IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


tii  ^    i2.2 


2.0 


Muu 

m 

L25  iU   11.6 


—    6" 


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71 


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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


ifi 


.% 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductlons  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notas/Notes  tachniquas  at  bibliographiquas 


Tha  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographicaliy  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


0 

n 

n 

n 

n 

D 
D 

n 


n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagie 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur^  et/ou  pelliculAe 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  giographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  inic  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  an  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 

Relii  avec  d'autres  documents  « 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serrde  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouttes 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  la  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  M  film^es. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplimentaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm*  la  mailleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  M  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mAthode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqute  ci-dessous. 


I      I   Coloured  pages/ 


D 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurAes  et/ou  pelliculies 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  dicolories,  tacheties  ou  piq  j^es 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d6tach6es 


Showthrough/ 
Transparence 


I      I   Quality  of  print  varies/ 


Quality  inigale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  matiriei  supplimentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  M  fiimies  A  nouveau  de  faqon  & 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  r6duction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


aox 


y 

12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of : 

Harold  Campball  Vaughan  Mtmorial  Library 
Acadia  Univanlty 


L'exemplaire  filmi  f ut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
gAnArositA  de: 

Harold  Campbsll  Vaughan  Mamorial  Library 
Aoadia  Univartity 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  M  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetA  de  l'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  ImprimAe  sont  filmte  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmAs  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  dee  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
dernlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  ^»>  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
fllmAs  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diffArents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA,  II  est  film*  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1  2  3 

4  5  6 


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I^BB 


HISfOIY  OF  OEEGON; 

6E06BAPHICA1  AND  POLITICAl. 


WITH  *»  WAMWATIOU  OF  THE  rSOJICT  OT  A 


l*is 


fe^^ 


NATIONAL  RAIL  ROAD, 

PROM  THE  ATLANTIC  TO  THE  PAOJWC  OOEAN. 
BY  GEORGE  WILKES. 


AIAO  AN  ACtJOtJNT  OF  THE  CHARAOTKEISTICS  AND  PRESENT 
CONDmON<»  TOE  OREGON  T^&^  MEMBER  OF 

waui^iva  ^J*  \jx&  tOSlCEStLY  QBOANIZED 

OREGON  LEGISLATURE, 
ACCOMPANIED  BY  A  MAP. 


'*"**•  i 


\  NEW-yORK. 

WtLLUM  H.  COLYER,  No.  5  HAGUE-STREET. 

HOTOUKIfliS  4(  Co.,  Bottw.    N.  HICKMAN,  and  SBURTZ  «  TAX- 

1846. 


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WILLIAM    H.    COLYER, 

No.  5  Hague- s TREET . 

1845. 


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THU 


HISTORY  OF  OREGOI, 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  POLITICAL. 


BY  GEORGE  WILKES. 


IMBRACTNO  AN  ANALYSIS  OF  TIIE  OLD  SPANISH  CLAIMS,  THK  BRITISH  FRETKHk 
8ION8,    THE   UNITED   STATKS  TITLE;    AN    ACCOUNT   OF  THE  PRESENT  CON- 
DITION AND  CHARACTER  OF  THE  COUNTRY,  AND  A  THOROUGH  EXAMIN- 
ATION OF  THE  PROJECT  OF  A 


NATIONAL   RAIL  ROAD, 


FROM  THE  ATLANTIC  TO  THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN. 


TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED  A  JOURNAL  OF  THI  EVENTS  OF  THE  CELEBRATED  EMIGRA' 
TING  EXPEDTTION  OF  1(^41  ;   CONTAINING  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ROUTE  FROM    y 
MISSOURI  TO  ASTORIA,  A  TABLE  OF  DISTANCES,  AND  THE  PHYSICAL  AND 
POLITICAL  DESCRIPTION    OF    THE   TERRITORY,   AND    ITS   SETTLE- 
MENTS, BY  A  MEMBER  OF  THE  RECENTLY  ORGANISED 


i.. 


M 


U'C^ 


*^ 


OREGON  LEGISLATURE. 


THE  WHOLE  CONCLUDING  WITH  AN  APPENDIX,  CONTAINING  THE  TREATIESj 
DIPLOMATIC  CORRESPONDENCE,   AND   NEGOTIATIONS  BETWEEN    SPAIN, 
RUSSIA,  GREAT  BRITAIN,  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES,  IN  RE- 
LATION TO  THE  NORTH  WIST  COAST. 


I 


\.i 


NEW    YORK: 

WILLIAM   H.    COLYER, 

No.  5  Hague-street. 
1845. 


I  I  ■ 


£a tired  according  to  on  Act  of  Congtctt  > 

BY  WILLIAM  H.  COLYER, 

Ik  the  Clork'i  OAea  of  tho  Southern  District  of  New  Yoric,  ia  the  year  184% 


I 


PREFACE. 


Th£  deep  interest  taken  in  the  Oregon  question  at  the  present  mo* 
ment ;  its  paramount  importance  as  a  feature  of  our  national  policy) 
and  the  prevailing  inacquaintanco  with  its  particular  merits,  have) 
together,  induced  the  author  to  prepare  the  following  pages,  in  the 
absence  of  the  requisite  work  for  the  reference  oi  the  public. 

There  appears  to  be  a  peculiar  necessity  for  a  publication  of  thig 
kind  at  present,  for  recent  events  have  shown  it  is  no  extravagance 
to  suppose  that  a  period  may  arrive  '.vhen  it  will  be  necessary  for  us 
to  be  assured,  whether  we  are  to  buckle  on  our  armor,  and  to  draw 
our  swords  in  a  righteous  cause  or  no. 

In  a  monarchy,  where  the  sovereign  has  a  direct  and  absorbing 
personal  interest  in  every  war,  he  pays  pamphleteers  to  make  it  popular 
with  The  People.  In  a  Government  like  ours,  this  duty,  when  just) 
devolves  upon  its  citizens,  and  such  of  them  as  perform  it,  are  re« 
warded  with  consciousness  of  having  acquitted  themselves  of  a  natural 
obligation,  and  in  the  additional  gratification  of  lending  another  impulse 
to  a  righteous  cause. 

To  accomplish  his  object  in  the  best  manner,  the  following  pages 
have  been  arranged  in  two  distinct  parts;  the  first  embracing  the 
features  of  title,  geography,  and  natural  advantages ;  and  the  second) 
the  descriptions  of  a  traveller  of  the  characteristics  and  capabilities  of 
the  country  in  dispute. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  first,  care  has  been  taken  to  furnish  a  cleaT) 
concise  and  straightforward  relation  of  events,  and  to  avoid  the 
technicalities  and  pedantries  which  usually  confuse  the  mind  in  the 
attempted  consideration  of  such  subjects.  For  the  data  of  this  portion 
of  the  work,  the  author  has  availed  himself  freely  of  the  best  authorix 
ties  on  the  subject,  and  he  takes  this  opportunity  of  acknowledging 
his  indebtedness  to  the  work  of  Robert  Greenhow,  published  for  the 
use  of  Congress  in  1840,  and  also  to  the  more  recent  journal  of  LieU" 
tenant  Wilkes. 

It  will  be  observed  by  those  already  conversant  with  the  Oregon 
Question,  that  the  author  has  left  what  is  called  "  the  French  Title" 
from  the  category  of  our  claims.  He  did  this  because  he  esteemed  it 
of  but  little  weig  it ;  but  those  who  are  curious  on  the  subject,  will 


,3^b-ifU.  ' 


PREFACE. 


find  a  careful  deduction  of  it  in  the  Appendix,  as  prepared  by  a  Com- 
mittee of  Congress,  in  1843. 

The  project  of  a  National  Rail  Road  across  the  continent,  though 
generally  denounced  as  visionary  and  impracticable,  has  long  been  the 
author's  favorite  idea,  and  he  claims  for  it  that  attention  which  every 
scheme  deserves  from  its  opposers.  It  was  not  his  intention  to 
advance  it  as  early  as  the  present  time,  but  the  rapid  progress  of  events 
has  precipitated  his  design,  and  a  similar  proposal  from  another  source, 
has  induced  him  to  bring  it  forward  now,  principally  from  an  appre- 
hension that  the  grandest  scheme  the  world  ever  entertained,  may 
be  prostituted  to  the  selfish  interests  of  a  private  corporation. 

The  second  part  of  the  work,  consists  of  a  journal,  prepared  from 
a  series  of  letters,  written  by  a  gentleman  now  in  Oregon,  who  him- 
self accompanied  the  celebrated  emigrating  expedition  of  1843. 

They  make  no  pretensions  in  their  style,  but  are  merely  simple, 
conversational  epistles,  which,  in  their  familiar,  off'-hand  way,  furnish 
a  large  amount  of  useful  practical  mformation  to  the  emigrant,  and 
much  interesting  matter  to  the  general  "reader.  The  author  has  done 
scarcely  more  to  this  portion  than  to  thrpw  it  into  chapters,  and  to 
strike  from  it  such  historical  and  geographical  statistics  as  had  been 
drawn  from  other  sources,  and  arranged  in  the  preceding  portions  of 
the  work.  These  letters  fell  into  his  hands  after  the  adoption  and 
commencement  of  his  original  design  ;  and  adapting  them  to  his  pur- 
pose, by  linking  them  with  his  own  MSS.,  a  deal  of  research  was  saved 
him  by  the  valuable  and  peculiar  information  they  contributed. 

In  conclusion,  though  much  of  his  labor  has  been  performed  in  haste, 
the  author  thinks  it  hardly  necessary  to  offer  an  apology  for  the  manner 
in  which  it  has  been  accomplished.  Instead  of  fishing  for  credit,  he 
has  desired  only  to  be  useful,  and  he  would  much  prefer  confirming  the 
just  determination  of  a  single  man,  than  to  pleasing  the  fancies  of  a 
thousand  critics.  He  has  therefore  been  content  to  be  correct,  and  he 
will  feel  over-paid  if  he  have  opposed  a  single  obstacle  to  the  manifold 
deceptions  and  misstatements  of  the  calculating  monarchists  who 
unhappily  form  a  portion  of  the  Citizens  of  this  Republic,  or  have  con- 
tributed a  mite  to  the  great  movement  that  will  advance  the  destiny 
of  his  country  more  rapidly  than  all  other  influences  combined. 


NoTF..— The  map  i'acinff  the  title-page  is  taken  from  an  English  publication  on  the  Oregon 
Question,  and  from  the  extreme  haste  with  which  the  publisher  has  been  obliged  to  proceed,  is 
the  best  he  is  enabled  to  furnish,  for  the  present.  Though  shorn  of  two  degrees  of  the 
southern  portion  of  Oregon,  it  is  accurate  in  the  profile  of  the  coast,  in  the  course  of  the  rivers, 
nnd  in  all  the  principal  features  of  the  territory.  It  will  bo  noticed  thut  along  the  line 
of  Frazer's  River  runs  the  words—"  Route  of  Makenzio,  in  1793  ;"  and  as  no  mention  is  made 
in  the  following  pages  of  Mr.  Makenzie,  it  may  be  proper  to  state  that  he  was  a  Scotch  Fur 
Trader,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  years  1789-90  and  -91,  in  exploring  the  Great  Slave  River, 
to  the  North  Sea,  and  in  1793,  descended  Frazer's  River,  to  its  mouth.  This  exploit,  however, 
has  no  bearing  on  the  question  of  title,  as  Galiano,  and  Valdes,  and  Vancouver  had  visited  it  some 
weeks  before.  As  a  further  explanation,  it  may  bo  necessary  to  say  that  Queen  Charlotte's 
Sound,  and  the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  are  northern  portions  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca  ;  and  an  easterly  line 
from  the  southern  point  of  the  small  island  immediately,  under  mark  of  longitude  133°,  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  the  northern  boundary  we  claim. 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


PART   I. 

Historical  Account  of  the  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Oreaon  Terri- 
tory^ Comprising  an  examination  of  the  old  Spanish  Claims,  the 
British  Pretensions,  and  a  deduction  of  the  United  States  Title. 

Oreoon  is  a  vast  stretch  of  territory,  lying  on  the  north  west  coast 
of  North  America.  It  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Pacific  Ocean  ; 
on  the  north  by  latitude  54°  40'  ;  on  the  east  by  the  Rocky 
mountains, and  on  the  south  by  the  forty-second  parallel.  This  geo- 
graphical arrangement  separates  the  coast  into  three  grand  divisions  ; 
first,  that  below  the  forty-second  parallel  belonging  to  Mexico ;  se- 
cond, the  section  lying  between  42°,  and  54°  40'  to  the  United  States ; 
and  third,  all  above  the  last  named  limit,  to  the  Russian  crown* — 
thus*  shutting  Great  Britain  out  from  any  inch  of  seaboard  territory. 

The  whole  of  this  immense  region  (Oregon)  is  nine  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  in  length  ;  its  breadth  along  its  northern  boundary  is  about 
five  hundred  miles,  and  widening  gradually  with  the  south-easterly 
course  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  it  stretches  to  about  seven  hundred 
miles  along  its  southern  line.  Its  whole  surface  may,  therefore,  be 
estimated  at  four  hundred  thousand  square  miles. 

Previous  to  entering  into  a  description  of  its  general  characteristics, 
it  is  necessary  first  to  analyze  with  accuracy  the  nature  of  our  claims, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  degree  of  interest  we  are  warranted 
in  bestowing  on  it.  This  course  will  be  found  the  more  important,  as 
we  shall  see  that  Great  Britain,  with  characteristic  modesty,  lays  claim 
to  it  for  herself. 

There  are  four  modes  by  which  nations  may  obtain  possession  and 
sovereignty  over  countries  ;  and  these  are  by  discovery  ;  by  settle- 
ment ;  by  conquest,  and  by  purchase — the  latter,  including  all  subordi- 
nate modes  of  cession  arising  out  of  political  arrangement. 

These  rules,  or  principles,  are  laid  down  and  governed  by  a  general 
system  called  international  law,  the  nature  and  qualities  of  which  it 
will  be  necessary  for  us  to  exactly  understand,  before  we  can  proceed 
satisfactorily  with  our  inquiry. 

International  Law  is  simply  no  law  at  «//,  for  the  first  idea  of  law 
implies  a  superior  power  prescribing  and  dictating  to  an  inferior  one — 
a  notion  that  is  perfectly  incompatible  with  the  equality  of  nations. 
International  law  is,  therefore,  merely  a  collection  of  moral  maxims  put 
forth  by  certain  ethical  writers  named  Grotius,  PufFendorf,  Baron 
Wolfius  and  Vattel,  which,  being  founded  in  the  main  on  accurate 
bases,  have-been  generally  used  by  diplomatists  as  ready  elucidations 
of  the  principles  that  should  govern  the  general  course  and  policy  of 
nations.  The  adoption  of  this  course  saves  them  the  special  trouble 
of  elaborating  an  argument  on  a  natural  right,  by  producing  one  ready 

See  Appendix,  No.  1. 


b  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

made  to  their  hand.  The  custom  of  resorting  to  these  writers  by 
diplomatists  in  the  arrangement  of  their  disputes,  has  given  them  a 
sort  of  authority,  which  has  been  confounded  with  the  notion  of  an 
imperative  rule.  As,  however,  all  nations  are  equal,  there  can  be  no 
international  law  but  the  great  principle  of  right.  Wherever  the 
maxims  of  these  writers  square  with  this,  they  are  doubtless  as  obli- 
gatory as  any  law  can  be  ;  for  all  powers  are  subject  alike  to  the  rules 
of  everlasting  justice,  which  are  the  type  and  essence  of  the  only  su- 
premacy to  which  the  nations  of  the  earth  must  bow.  But,  whenever 
on  the  contrary,  they  do  not  agree  with  this  divine  principle,  it  is 
equally  obligatory  on  all  to  reject  them. 

There  is  another  view  in  which  a  government  like  ours  has  a  spe- 
cial and  peculiar  right  to  deny  the  obligatory  nature  of  this  collection 
of  essays,  and  that  is  embraced  in  the  fact  of  their  being  drawn  from 
monarchial  theories.  We,  therefore,  who  are  Avorking  upon  a  new 
and  antagonistic  principle,  are  not  bound  by  any  scheme  which  con- 
flicts with  our  own  grand  design  ;  for  it  would  be  absurd  in  the  ex- 
treme for  a  State  which  achieved  its  existence  through  the  denounce- 
ment of  an  arbitrary  and  unjust  system,  to  admit  the  binding  force  of 
its  inconsistent  parts.  We  want  no  such  system  of  international  law ! 
The  prevailing  sentiment  of  national  honour,  common  to  every  free 
people,  is  the  best  conservator  of  the  rights  of  nations ;  for  while  it 
imperatively  exacts  immediate  redress  for  every  wrong,  it  rejects  every 
unworthy  policy  with  unqualified  disdain.  The  principles  of  justice, 
eternal  and  invariable,  are  understood  by  all  without  the  elaborate 
filterings  of  an  artificial  code,  and  they  have  the  advantage  moreover, 
of  applying  equally  to  Monarchies  and  to  Republics.  The  just  do 
right  without  a  written  rule ;  the  bad  outrage  it  in  opposition  to  a 
thousand — the  first  find  their  reward  in  the  approbation  of  the  world  ; 
the  last  their  punishment  in  the  alternative  of  war.  No  written  code 
can  alter  these  tendencies,  nor  affect  their  results.  No  nation  will 
obey  a  rule  which  runs  in  derogation  of  its  rights.  What  need  then 
of  a  system  which  offers  no  additional  inducements  and  enforces  no 
additional  penalties  ? 

We  do  not  introduce  these  views  of  international  law  here,  because 
any  of  its  principles  makes  against  our  claims  to  Oregon,  but  for  the 
opposite  reason  that  they  substantiate  them ;  for  we  wish  to  be  under- 
stood, that  while  we  have  a  right  to  accept  a  proposition  waged 
against  us,  and  turn  its  premises  to  our  own  account,  we  do  not  there- 
by bind  ourselves  irrevocably  to  the  whole  system  of  which  it  is  a 
part. 

Great  Britain  in  support  of  her  pretensions  to  the  sovereignty  of 
Oregon,  produces  two  principles  from  this  code  which  relate  to  the 
rights  drawn  from  discovery  and  occupation.  We  accept  the  chal- 
lenge, because  it  happens  to  be  founded  on  correct  principles,  and 
because  it  enables  us  to  beat  her  on  her  own  ground.  The  following 
are  the  rules  alluded  to.  They  are  extracted  from  Vattel,  who  is 
considered  the  standard  authority  on  international  law. 


"All  mankind  have  an  equal  right  to  things  that  have  not  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
any  one  ;  and  these  things  belong  to  tho  person  who  first  takes  possession  of  them. 
When,  therefore,  a  nation  finds  a  country  uninhabited  and  without  an  owner,  it  may 
lawfully  take  possession  of  it ;  and  after  it  has  sufficiently  made  known  its  intention 
or  will  in  this  respect,  it  cannot  be  deprived  of  it  by  another  nation.     Thus  naviga- 


HISTORY  OP  OREGON.  » 

tors  going  on  voyages  of  discovery,  furnished  with  a  commission  from,  their  lovereign, 
and  meeting  with  islands  or  other  lands  in  a  desert  state,  have  taken  possession  of 
them  in  the  name  of  their  nation  ;  and  this  title  has  been  usually  respected,  provided 
it  was  soon  after  followed  by  a  real  possession." — Book  1,  Chap.  18,  Sec.  207. 

"  When  a  nation  takes  possession  of  a  country  that  never  yet  belonged  to  another, 
it  is  considered  as  possessing  th<fre  the  empire  or  sovereignty  at  the  same  time  with 
the  domain."— JSooA:  1,  Chap.  18,  Sec.  205. 

The  correctness  of  these  propositions  cannot  be  denied  ;  they  are 
consistent  with  reason  and  natural  rights,  and  though  they  derive  no 
additional  force  from  being  written  down  by  Monsieur  Vattel,  they 
are  properly  admitted  by  nations  as  principles  which  cannot  be  assailed 
to  the  injury  of  the  party  enjoying  the  rights  of  the  affirmative,  without 
aggression.  Indeed,  they  would  have  been  much  better  and  more 
correctly  understood  if  Vattel  had  never  said  a  word  about  them.  It 
is  obvious  enough  that  no  claim  can  exist  to  a  country  which  has 
never  been  discovered,  and  it  is  equally  Obvious  that  it  must  naturally 
fall  into  the  possession  of  the  first  nation  who  redeems  it  to  the  world ; 
but  it  is  not  so  apparent  why  a  navigator  should  be  armed  with  a 
commission  before  his  nation  can  derive  a  title  to  his  discoveries. 
Here  we  see  at  once  the  pedantry  of  the  lawyer  :  the  main  proposition 
is  founded  upon  reasonable  principles,  but  the  latter  condition  is  the 
offspring  of  a  quirk.  It  will  be  hereafter  seen  that  England  discards 
this  feature  from  the  rule,  in  her  assertion  of  the  discoveries  of 
Meares  ;  and  it  was  against  such  absurdities  as  this,  that  our  protest 
against  international  law  was  intended  to  guard. 

There  is  one  other  principle  of  international  law  which  has  been 
introduced  into  this  controversy,  that  is  of  equal  natural  force  and 
validity  with  the  foregoing  ones.  This  is  the  well  known  and  esta- 
blished rule,  that  "  he  who  first  discovers  the  mouth  of  a  river  drain- 
ing a  country  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  makes  known  his  discovery ; 
and  the  nation  whom  he  represents,  takes  possession  in  a  reasonable 
lime,  becomes  the  owner  of  all  the  territory  drained  by  such  river.'* 

This  proposition,  like  the  former  ones,  recommends  itself  at  once 
to  our  reason  and  common  sense.  It  is  clear  that  such  river  should 
belong  of  right  to  the  nation  first  discovering  it,  and  it  is  equally  clear, 
that  to  be  of  any  use  or  benefit  to  them,  they  should  have  possession 
of  the  whole  country  drained  by  it,  so  that  its  sources  and  its  current 
may  not  be  at  the  mercy  of  inimical  hands,  who  could  render  it  use- 
less at  pleasure,  by  cutting  off  the  first,  or  perverting  the  second  in  a 
different  channel. 


THE  OLD  SPANISH  CLAIMS.* 


In  1491,  the  western  hemisphere  slept  unknown  in  the  abyss.  1491. 
In  1492  Spain  redeemed  it  to  the  world.  Between  1512  and  }^J^; 
1541,  she  settled  Mexico,  occupied  Florida,  traversed  the  whole  imi. 
northern  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  explored  the  interior  of  the 
continent  as  far  as  the  fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude.  In  1543  j^^g 
she  explored  the  coast  under  Cabrillo  and  Bartoleme  Ferrelo,  as 

*  Though  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  mention  to  the  reader  in  this  stage  of  our 
examination,  that  the  United  States  purchased  from  Spain  in  1819,  all  the  right 
devolving  to  her  on  the  North  West  coast  above  42*  north  latitude  by  virtue  of 
her  discoveries  and  settlements,  it  will  do  no  harm  to  direct  him  to  bear  in  mind 
that  in  making  out  Ae;-  title,  we  of  consequence  establish  our  own. 


HISTORY  OF  OREQOIT. 


1580.  '^'S^  "^^  *'^6  forty-fourth  parallel,  and  from  that  year  till  1580  we 
hear  of  no  other  adventure  in  a  northern  latitude.  In  the  last 
mentioned  year,  however,  Sir  Francis  Drake  appeared  in  the  North 
Pacific,  and  as  the  British  government  have  seen  fit  to  lay  great  stress 
upon  his  discoveries,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  give  them  parti- 
cular attention. 

Drake  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  buccaneers  who 
cursed  the  face  of  the  ocean  during  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  He  had  heard  of  the  enormous  profits  derived  from  the 
pillage  of  the  South  American  Spanish  settlements,  and  appealing  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  (who  secretly  encouraged  this  system  of  warfare, 
while  she  dared  not  openly  deny  to  Spain  the  rights  of  her  Pacific  dis- 
coveries,) received  her  aid  to  his  nefarious  schemes.  With,  therefor^, 
no  object  beyond  piracy  and  plunder,  he  entered  the  Pacfic  in  1578, 
and  during  the  course  of  that  and  the  following  year,  ravaged  every 
town  of  note  on  the  coast  of  South  America ;  committing  the  most 
barbarous  outrages  on  their  unoffending  inhabitants.  Being  at  last 
gorged  with  spoil  and  satiated  with  ravage,  his  next  object  was  to 
secure  a  safe  retreat ;  but  fearing  to  take  the  risk  of  a  return  through 
the  straits  of  Magellan,  lest  the  exasperated  Spaniards  should  con- 
centrate their  forces  there  to  cut  him  off,  he  resolved  to  return  home 
by  the  way  of  the  Indies  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  He  accordingly 
ranged  along  the  coast  as  high  as  the  42d  or  43d  degrees  of  north 
latitude,  when  being  pinched  by  the  cold,  he  turned  back  and  ran 
into  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  in  lat.  38.  Here  he  stopped  five  weeks 
to  refit,  and  for  the  purpose  of  awing  the  natives  into  submission,  made 
a  pompous  display  of  colors  and  music,  which  he  afterwards  very 
modestly  called  taking  possession  for  the  British  Crown.  Though 
Drake  knew  from  the  accounts  of  the  natives,  and  the  articles  of 
European  manufacture  he  found  among  them,  that  the  country  had 
been  discovered  and  visited  long  before,  he  could  not  overlook  so 
favorable  an  opportunity  of  covering  the  dishonest  nature  of  his  enter- 
prize  ;  so  he  assumed  the  character  of  a  discoverer,  and  performed  the 
double  service  of  saving  both  himself  and  his  mistress  from  impertinent 
inquiry  b}'  the  evasion.  He  was  rewarded  on  his  return  home  for  the 
murders  he  had  committed  and  the  plunder  which  he  shared,  by  a 
baronetcy  instead  of  the  rope,  and  descended  to  posterity  as  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  the  celebrated  navigator,  instead  of  Drake,  the  bold  pirate.  On 
this  infamous  basis  do  the  British  Government  found  their  claims  to 
Oregon,  and  it  may  be  regarded  as  significant  of  the  ramifications  of 
the  design.  They  insist  that  Drake  explored  the  coast  as  high  as  48°, 
and  rely  upon  the  statements  of  a  work  called  the  "  World  Encom- 
passed," published  by  an  unknown  compiler,  froni  "  notes  of  the  Rev. 
Francis  Fletcher,  Preacher  in  this  (Drake's)  employment."  But  as 
this  journal  was  not  made  until  sixty-three  years  after  the  voyage  was 
made,  and  as  its  incongruous  statements  are  directly  contradicted  by  a 
work  published  immediately  after  the  return  of  the  expedition,  when 
this  Mr.  Fletcher  and  all  the  parties  were  alive,  and  able  to  refute 
it,  we  are  not  bound  to  bestow  a  grave  consideration  on  its  statements. 
The  following  extract  will  serve  to  show  the  consistency  and  veracity 
of  the  Preacher's  statement : 


KISTOnV  CF  OREtlON. 


"  On  the  3d  June,  (1580)  wo  came  in  latitude  42*  N.,  but  in  the  night  -we  found 
'3uch  an  alteration  of  heat  to  extreme  fold,  as  caused  our  men  to  grievously  complain. 
The  land  bearing  farther  out  in  to  the  west  than  we  had  imagined,  we  were  nearer 
on  it  than  we  were  aware.  The  5th  of  June  wo  were  forced  by  contrary  winds 
io  run  in  with  the  shore  and  cast  an  anchor  in  a  bad  bay,  where  we  were  not 
without  some  danger  by  the  extreme  gusts  and  fiaws  that  beat  upon  us.  In  this 
place  there  was  uo  abiding,  on  account  of  the  extreme  cold,  and  the  wind  still 
directly  bent  upon  us,  commanded  us  south  whether  we  would  or  no.  From  the 
height  of  48",  in  which  we  now  were,  to  38°,  wefi/Und  the  land  low  and  reasonably 
plain,  and  in  S8"  20'  fell  in  with  a  tit  and  convenient  harbor,  where  we  anchored. 
During  all  this  time,  we  were  visited  with  like  nipping  colds,  neither  was  the  air 
during  the  whole  fourteen  days  eo  clear  as  to  enable  us  to  take  the  height  of  sun  or 
star.  Though  wo  searched  the  coast  diligently,  even  unto  the  48ih  degree,  yet  found 
we  not  the  land  to  trend  so  much  as  one  point  in  any  place  toward  the  east,  hut 
lather  running  in  continually  north-west,  as  if  it  wc  >  directly  to  meet  with  Asia. "^ 

.Really  this  preacher  expects  a  great  deal  from  our  symplicity,  for 
he  coolly  tells  us  that  he  accomplished  a  sailing  distance  of  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  four  hundred  miles  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances, 
in  two  days.  Moreover,  vv^e  find  upon  an  examination  of  the  maps, 
that  the  coast  between  these  latitudes,  so  far  from  ruwning  continually 
"  north-west,  as  if  it  went  directly  to  meet  with  Asia,''''  does  not  in  any 
part  trend  one  point  toward  the  west.  By  comparing  the  two 
accounts,  we  find  that  the  first  historian,  (Mr.  Francis  Pretty,)  whose 
relation  being  published  immediately  upon  its  conclusion,  may  be 
regarded  as  the  official  journal  of  the  voyage,  sets  the  latitude  of  5th 
June  at  43*^,  while  the  other,  whose  work  was  not  ventured  before  all 
the  actors  had  departed  from  the  stage,  marks  it  48"^.  It  may  be  that 
Fletcher's  manuscript  has  it.--  degrees  of  latitude  indicated  by  figures, 
and  that  a  peculiarity  of  fsrmation  has  confounded  43  with  48  ;  but 
if  the  inconsistency  is  not  explained  in  this  way,  we  must  of  necessity 
conclude,  that  the  Preacher,  whose  hard  task  it  was,  to  make  robbery 
and  ravage  square  with  the  ordinances  of  religion,  has  been  gradually 
brought  to  consider  romance  as  his  peculiar  province,  and  to  estimate 
a  serviceable  fiction  over  a  common-place  fact.  The  character  of  this 
production  of  .Af  r.  Fletuher's  appears  to  have  been  pretty  well  under- 
stood by  the  historians  of  the  last  century,  for  while  but  three  writers 
previous  to  1750,  (and  those  of  but  little  reputation,*)  adopt  his  state- 
ments, tiiey  are  rejected  by  the  great  mass  of  authorities,  comprising 
Ogilby,  in  his  History  of  America,  De  Laet,  in  his  History  of  the 
New  World,  Heylin,  in  his  Cosmography,  Locke,  m  his  History  of 
Navigation,  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  in  his  biography  of  Drake,  and  Dr. 
Robertson,  in  his  Standard  History  of  America,  none  of  them  allowing 
Drake  the  credit  of  an  advance  above  43^,  while  the  latter  positively 
states  that  he  turned  back  at  the  42d  parallel.  When  in  addition  to  the 
indisputable  veracity  of  these  writers,  we  take  into  consideration  that 
they  are  all,  with  one  exception,  Britons,  who  cannot  be  accused  of 
an  indifference  to  the  glory  of  their  country,  we  must  reject  the  claim 
"which  is  based  upon  the  counter-statement,  as  without  foundation. 
Even  admitting  the  latitude  thej'  ask,  the  very  principles  of  inter- 
national law  they  have  advanced,  plunges  them  into  an  inextricable 
difficulty.  By  the  rule  which  we  have  extracted  from  Vattel,  «  dis- 
covery, to  confer  a  title,  is  clogged  with  a  proviso  in  the  concluding 
•clause,  that  a  real  possession  must  follow  soou  after.    Now  we  shall  see 

*  John  Davis,  Admiral  Monson,  and  Captain  Burney. 


10 


mSTORT  OFOREGOIT. 


in  the  progress  of  our  inquiry,  that  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  yearn 
elapsed,  before  another  English  navigator  entered  the  northern  latitudes^ 
of  the  North-west  coast.     As  the  most  romantic  imagination  ca» 
hardly  construe  this  into  being  soon  enough  after,  we  shall  not  hesitate 
to  strike  the  pretensions,  on  the  score  of  Drake,  from  off' the  record. 
jjgj      From  the  date  of  the  expedition  of  Cabrillo  and  Ferrelo  ( 1543,) 
"  we  hear  of  no  further  discovery  to  the  north,  except  what  is- 
contained  in  the  account  of  a  voyage  made  by  Francisco  Gali  or 
Guelli,  a  merchantman,  who  in  his  course  from  China  to  Mexico  i» 
said  to  have  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  American  continent,  in  57i- 
degrees,  and  to  have  sailed  along  in  sight  of  its  coast,  till  he  arrived 
at  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  in  latitude  37 J.     But  little  reliance  i» 
to  be  placed  upon  this  account,  however,  as  by  Guelli's  own  statement, 
the  land  first  seen  by  him  "  was  very  high  and  fair,  and  wholly  without 
snow,"  which  could  not  have  been  the  case  with  the  land  in  that 
latitude.     It  makes  but  little  difference  whether  he  is  entitled  to  all  he 
claimed  or  not,  for  subsequent  discoveries  cover  all  the  ground  which 
this  could  have  occupied,  if  it  were  ever  so  substantial, 
jgg.      The  next  discovery  by  the  Spaniards  on  the  North-west  coast, 
"took  place  in  15S7,  by  Jean  de  Fuca,a  Greek  pilot,  who  received 
the  direction  of  a  squadron  fitted  out  by  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  for  the 
discovery  of  a  strait  which  was  supposed  to  lead  into  the  Atlantic 
ocean.     Arriving  between  latitudes  48  and  49,  he  fell  upon  the  great 
arm  of  the  sea  which  separates  "  Quadra  and  Vancouver's  Island" 
from  the  continent,  and  which  now  bears  his  name.     This   he 
thorougly  explwed  along  its  eastern  course,  and  having  remained  in  it 
for  twenty  days,  returned  to  Mexico.     From  the  policy  pursued  by 
the  Spanish  Government  of  concealing  everything  that  related  to  their 
American  possessions,  the'  existence  of  this  strait  was  unknown  to  the 
rest  of  the  world  for  a  Ions;  time,  and  when  its  discoverer  disclosed  it 
to  an  English  merchant  some  years  afterward,  it  was  derided  as  a- 
fable. 
j^^      In  1787  an  Austrian  vessel  fell  upon  it  and  entered  it  to 

the  distance  of  sixty  miles,  and  as  it  corresponded  in  all  its 
remarkable  peculiarities  with  the  one  described  by  De  Fuca  nearly 
two  hundred  years  before,  justice  was  at  once  rendered  to  his  memory 
by  the  bestowal  on  it  of  his  name.  From  1592  up  to  1774,  the  Span- 
iards occupied  themselves  principally  in  forming  .settlements  upon  the 
j„^^  coast  and  in  the  interior  of  their  northern  possessions  ;  but  in  the 

latter  year,  another  expedition  was  despatched  under  the  charge 
of  Juan  Perez,  which  traversed  the  coast  up  to  the  54th  degree, 
down  to  forty  minutes  of  which  point  the  Russians  had  already  ex- 
tended their  trading  settlements.  Proceeding  south,  Perez  anchored 
in  a  spacious  bay  under  49°,  which  he  named  Port  San  Lorenzo,  but 
which,  on  a  subsequent  visit  by  Captain  Cook,  received  from  that 
navigator,  its  present  name  of  Nootka  Sound.  After  leaving  Port 
San  Lorenzo,  Pen^z  saw  the  Strait  of  Fuca  in  his  southern  course, 
J...  but  did  not  stop  to  examine  it.     In  the  following  year  another 

expedition  under  Heceta,  Bodega  and  Maurelle  examined  the 
whole  shore  fiom  40°  up  to  58°,  and  the  former,  on  his  return  voyage, 
while  between  46°  and  47°,  noticed  an  opening  in  the  land  at  46""  16', 
which  appeared  to  be  a  harbor  or  the  mouth  of  some  river.     He  re~ 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON. 


11 


1778. 


ported  the  fact,  giving  his  opinion  to  that  effect,  and  subsequent  Span- 
ish maps  accordingly  laid  down  a  river  there,  which  they  called  the 
San  Roque. 

We  have  now  brought  the  Spanish  discoveries  down  to  1775,  to 
which  time  no  other  European  nation  had  set  foot  upon  the  coasts 
between  38°  and  54°  40',  neither  had  any  ever  reached  a  higher  lati- 
tude than  43°. 

In  1778,  three  years  after  this  latter  expedition,  Captain  Cook 
arrived  in  the  North  Pacific,  and  under  49iV'  fell  in  with  the  port 
San  Lorenzo  of  the  Spaniards.  This,  he  named  Nootka  Sound,  and 
ascribed  the  merit  of  its  discovery  to  himself  in  the  face  of  numerous 
evidences  that  Europeans  had  been  there  before  him,  for  he  teliis  us 
in  his  own  account,  that  not  only  did  the  natives  appear  familiar  with 
his  ships,  but  he  found  among  them  articles  of  Spanish  manufacture. 
Thus  vanishes  Cook  from  the  shadow^'  list  of  English  discoverers  of 
the  coast  of  Oregon  ;  for  until  the  word  discovery  is  born  again  and 
receives  a  new  definition,  it  will  hardly  possess  sufficient  elasticity  of 
application  to  stretch  its  qualities  to  two  distinct  visitations  of  the 
same  spot,  separated  by  a  distance  of  three  years  ;  and  unless  its  mean- 
ing is  considerably  enlarged,  it  will  scarcely  extend  from  the  outside 
of  an  island  twenty  miles  at  sea,  to  the  body  of  the  continent  behind  it. 

Having  disposed  of  the  two  main  pillars  of  the  English  title,  we 
next  come  to  the  examination  of  the  filling  in,  the  flimsy  material  of 
which  we  shall  find  in  keeping  and  correspondence  with  the  unsub- 
stantial quality  of  the  first. 

In  doing  this,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  extend  the  scope  of  our  nar- 
rative somewhat,  as  well  to  correct  certain  gross  misrepresentations 
which  have  been  made  to  the  injury  of  the  Spanish  title,  as  to  afford 
a  proper  idea  of  the  unworthy  subterfuges  which  the  desperate  di- 
plomacy of  Britain  h.is  employed  to  effect  the  establishment  of  their 
own,  in  opposition  to  it.  This  course  is  necessary,  moreover,  to  a 
correct  understanding  of  the  whole  subject,  as  the  circumstances  to 
be  related  nearly  kindled  a  general  European  war,  and  as  they  led  to 
a  treaty,  whose  c/a/merf  concessions  on  the  part  of  the  English,  admits 
virtually  the  integrity^  of  the  title  of  Spain. 

j..g  In  the  month  of  January,  17S8,  two  Portuguese  vessels  named 
the  "  Felice,"  and  "  Iphigenia,"  arrived  on  the  north-west  coast 
of  North  America.  The  former  was  under  the  command  of  John 
Meares,  a  half-pay  lieutenant  in  the  British  navy,  and  the  latter  was 
under  the  direction  of  William  Douglas,  also  a  British  subject.  They 
were  engaged  in  the  fur  trade,  and  were  owned  by  John  Cavallo,  a 
Portuguese  merchant  of  Macao.  As  it  is  important  to  establish  their 
nationality,  it  is  necessary  to  state  that  they  sailed  under  the  Portu- 
guese flag,  and  contained  instructions  to  their  commanders  written  in 
the  Portuguese  language.  These  directed  theui,  in  express  termi?; 
"  to  oppose  with  force  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  any  Russian, 
EniiUsh  or  Spanish  vessels  to  interfere  with  them,  and  if  possible  to 
capture  them,  to  bring  them  to  China,  that  tUey  might  be  condemned 
as  legal  prizes  by  the  Portuguese  authorities  of  Macao,  and  their 
crews  punished  as  pirates."  This,  of  course,  conclusively  refutes  the 
assumption  that  they  were  Eiicjllsh.  The  first  of  these  Poituguese 
vessels,  the  Felice,  under  the  command  of  Meares,  arrived  at  Nootka 
on  the  13th  May,  when  that  officer  finding  he  would  need  a  small 


12 


HISTORY   OF  OREOON. 


( 


:n 


vessel  for  the  shallow  inlets  and  rivers  of  the  coast,  immeiliately  com- 
menced building  one.  Leaving  a  portion  of  his  crew  to  complete  her 
construction,  Meares  sailed  towards  the  south  to  examine  his  trading 
ground.  He  endeavored  unsuccessfully  to  explore  the  Strait  of  Fuca, 
and  on  arriving  at  the  portion  of  the  coast  between  46"  and  47^ — the 
locality  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia — he  sought  for  the  great  river 
which  Heceta  three  years  before  had  asserted  emptied  into  the  ocean 
in  46°  16'.  Here  he  was  unsuccessful  again,  and  chagrined  at  the 
result,  named  the  inward  curve  of  the  shore  "  Deception  Bay^" 
and  the  northern  promontory  of  the  harbor  "  Cape  Dmtppo'mtmeut^^^ 
chronicling  the  circumstance  in  his  own  journal  in  the  following 
Words : — "  Wc  can  novo  with  safely  assert  that  there  is  no  such  river 
as  that  of  Saint  Roc  exists,  as  laid  down  in  the  Spanish  charts^ 
After  his  unsatisfactory  search,  Meares  returned  in  the  latter  part  of 
July  to  Nootka.  In  September  following,  the  American  sloop  Wash- 
ington, Captain  Gray,  anchored  in  the  same  harbor.  The  little  ves- 
sel commenced  by  Meares  h'ld  been  completed,  and  received  the 
name  of  the  "  North  West  America ;"  and  the  Iphigenia,  the  other 
Portuguese  vessel  commanded  by  Douglas,  arrived  on  the  24th  of  the 
same  month.  Elated  with  the  success  of  his  enterprise,  Meaues 
transferred  the  cargo  of  the  latter  vessel  to  his  own  with  the  utmost 
despatch,  and  filled  with  new  designs  inspired  by  the  result,  set  out 
four  days  afterward  for  Macao. 

In  the  following  month,  the  ship  Columbia  of  Boston,  commanded 
by  captain  Kendrick,  arrived  at  Nootka,  and  a  few  days  afterwards, 
the  two  remaining  Portuguese  vessels,  (the  Iphigenia  and  the  North 
West  America)  departed  for  the  Sandwich  Islands,  leaving  the  Ame- 
rican vessels  to  winter  on  the  coast. 

j^g.,  Meares  arrived  at  Macao  in  December,  and  finding  that  Caval- 
"  lo,  his  owner,  had  become  a  bankrupt,  determined  to  turn  his  in- 
formation and  position  to  the  best  account  for  himself.  An  opportunity 
was  not  long  in  offerins:  itself  to  his  designs.  Two  vessels  belongins; 
to  a  rival  association,  called  the  "  King  George's  Sound  Company," 
arrived  at  Macao  under  the  command  of  James  Colnett,  another  British 
ofiicer  under  half  pay.  Meares  immediately  made  overtures  to  an 
agent  of  that  association,  who  came  in  one  of  the  vessels  (perhaps 
through  some  previous  direction  communicated  by  Meares,  while  all 
parties  were  on  the  N.  W.  coast  together  in  the  previous  summer) 
to  unite  the  interests  of  both  concerns.  The  suggestion  was  adopted, 
the  interests  conjoined,  and  two  vessels,  the  Princess  Royal  and  the 
Argonaut,  (the  latter  bearing  Colnett,  who  had  chief  direction)  were 
despatched  to  Nootka,  with  the  intention  of  esliiblishing  a  permanent 
post  there  for  the  transaction  of  their  trading  operations.  Meares  re- 
mained at  Macao  as  resident  agent,  with  all  the  affairs  of  the  associa- 
tion entirely  at  his  control.- 

In  the  mean  time,  Spain,  who  had  heard  with  uneasiness  of  the 
movements  of  the  fur  traders  in  the  North  Pacific,  began  to  be  alarmed 
lor  the  safety  of  her  possessions  in  that  quarter,  and  remonstrances 
were  made  by  he;-  to  the'  courts  of  England  and  of  Russia,  against  the 
encroachments  of  the  subjects  of  those  two  nations,  in  particular.  To 
more  effectually  guard  against  these  transgressions,  as  well  as  to  resist 
a  projected  seizure  of  Nootka  by  the  Russians,  the  viceroy  of  Mexi- 
co directed  a  squadron  then  lying  at  San  Bias,  under  the  command  of 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


13 


Don  Esteran  Jose  Martinez,  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  scene  of  the 
intended  aggression. 

Dufore  the  arrival  of  Martinez  at  Nootka,  the  Iphigcnia  and  North 
West  America,  returned  there  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  but  in  a 
most  forlorn  condition,  the  former  being  a  mere  wreck,  and  almost 
incapable  of  repair. 

On  the  Gth  of  May,  1780,  nine  days  afterwards,  Martinez  arrived, 
proclaimed  that  he  had  come  to  take  possession  of  the  country  for  the 
crown  6f  Spain,  landed  artillery,  and  commenced  the  erection  of  a  fort. 
This  was  the  first  actual  occupation  ever  n\ade  of  Nootka.  The  most 
kindly  feeling  prevailed  among  all  parties  for  a  time,  and  the  Spanish 
commander  afibrded  the  Iphigenia  whatever  materials  she  stood  in 
need  of,  in  order  that  she  might  go  to  sea  immediately  ;  accepting  in 
payment,  bills  drawn  upon  Cavallo,  of  Macao,  as  her  owner.  This 
amicable  state  of  feeling  lasted  but  a  week,  for  upon  Martinez  being 
informed  that  the  written  instructions  of  the  Portuguese  vessels,  di- 
rected them  to  seize  and  carry  to  Macao  any  English,  Russian,  or 
Spanish  vessels,  they  could  manage  to  overcome,  he  took  possession 
of  the  Iphigenia,  and  put  her  officers  and  crew  under  arrest.  They 
were  liberated,  however,  in  a  few  days,  through  the  intercession  of 
captain  Kendrick  of  the  Columbia,  and  the  omcers  of  the  Iphigenia 
signed  a  declaration  to  the  effect  that  she  had  not  been  interrupted  in 
her  operations,  and  that  they  had  been  kindly  treated  by  Martinez 
during  their  stay  at  Nootka.  Viana  and  Douglas  as  captain  and  su- 
percargo, respectively,  engaged  to  pay  for  themselves,  and  for  Juan 
Cavallo,  the  owner  of  said  vessel,  to  the  order  of  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico, 
her  full  value,  in  case  her  capture  should  be  pronounced  legal.  Mar- 
tinez then  fully  equipped  her  for  sea,  and  enabled  her  to  make  ^  vastly 
profitable  voyage ;  a  circumstance  which  could  not  have  happened 
without  his  special  aid.  Pretty  lenient  treatment  for  men  whom  he 
might  have  sent  to  Mexico  to  be  tried  for  piracy,  and  a  pretty  hazar- 
dous policy  moreover,  when  an  additional  force  belonging  '.o  the  same 
company  was  daily  expected  to  arrive,  which  might  ha  .re  overpow- 
ered him,  and  reversed  the  case  by  sending  him,  according  to  their 
instructions,  to  Macao,  to  he  tried  on  the  same  charge. 

One  of  the  vessels  of  the  associated  companies,  the  Princess  Royal, 
arrived  at  Nootka  on  the  16th  of  June,  and  brought  with  her  the  news 
of  the  failure  of  Juan  Cavallo  ;  upon  which,  Martinez  determined  to 
hold  the  North  West  America  (then  there)  as  security  for  the  bills 
which  he  held  on  the  bankrupt.  The  Princess  Royal  was  well  treat- 
ed by  the  Spaniards,  and  sailed  on  the  second  of  July  from  Nootka  on 
a  cruise.  As  she  was  leaving  the  harbor,  the  Argonaut  came  in. 
Upon  being  boarded  by  the  Spaniards,  Captain  Colnett  arrogantly  de- 
clared he  had  come  to  take  possession  of  Nootka  for  Great  Britain, 
and  to  erect  a  fort  there  under  the  British  flag.  This  declaration,  in 
connexion  with  some  insolent  conduct  on  the  part  of  Colnett  on  the 
following  day,  who  even  went  to  the  extent  of  drawing  his  sword 
upon  the  Spanish  commander,  in  the  latter's  own  cabin,  determined 
Martinez  to  trifle  no  longer  with  such  intemperate  offenders,  so  he 
seized  the  Argonaut,  and  subsequently  the  Princess  Royal,  and  de- 
spatched the  former,  with  the  crews  of  b')ih,  to  San  Bias,  Mexico,  as 
prisoners  under  the  charge  of  a  Spanish  officer.  Those  who  were  cap- 
tured in  the  North  West  America,  which  vessel  was  merely  held  as 


u 


HISTORV  OF  OREOOrr. 


r;  I 


•j 


collateral  security  for  the  obligations  of  its  owners,  were  sent  in  the 
Columbia  as  passengers  to  Macao,  their  passages  not  only  being  paid 
by  Martinez,  but  an  allowance  being  also  made  them  for  their  wage*. 
Having  thus  disposed  of  his  mission,  Martinez  sailed  from  Nootka  for 
Mexico  in  November,  leaving  Captain  Kendrick  of  the  sloop  Washing- 
ton alone  upon  the  coast. 

The  Columbia,  with  the  news  of  these  circumstances,  arrived  at 
.j^gj  Macao  in  1789,  and  Meares  full  of  his  wrongs  immediately  took 
'  depositions  from  some  of  the  seamen,  and  posted  off  to  London  to 
see  what  capital  he  could  make  out  of  the  circumstance.  On  his  arri- 
val there,  he  got  up  a  memorial  filled  with  the  grossest  misrepre- 
sentations and  downright  falsehoods,  and  adopting  a  new  idea  which 
probably  had  been  suggested  to  him  after  his  arrival,  he  asserted  that 
in  1788  he  had  purchased  a  vast  district  of  country  from  King  Maqui- 
na,  the  monarch  of  Nootka,  and  that  he  had  erected  a  fort  there,  with 
other  buildings,  by  way  of  taking  formal  possession  of  the  place  for 
the  British  crown.  ' 

This  remarkable  document  then  concludes  by  praying  for  an  indem- 
nification of  the  losses  sustained  by  the  memorialist  and  his  associates^ 
through  the  seizure  and  detention  of  their  vessels,  in  the  very  mode- 
rate sum  of  six  hundred  and  fifty-three  thousand  dollars !  This  story 
of  the  purchase  of  a  territory  for  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  by  a 
Portuguese  agent,  in  a  Portuguese  expedition,  is  peculiarly  English 
in  its  extravagant  pretensions.  That  it  was  the  scheme  of  an  after- 
thought is  evident  from  a  number  of  circumstances.  In  the  first  place, 
Meares  in  his  journal  of  these  voyages,  written  and  published  before 
the  design  of  the  memorial  was  conceived,  makes  no  mention  Avhat- 
ever  of  any  such  purchase  of  territory  from  the  respectable  monarch 
aforesaid  ;  neither  does  he  speak  of  the  erection  of  the  fort  or  the 
hoisting  of  the  British  flag.  In  the  second  place,  he  entirely  overlooks 
these  all  important  circumstances  in  the  depositions  which  he  took  from 
the  crew  of  the  North  West  America  previous  to  his  departure  from 
Canton ;  (none  of  whom  say  one  word  about  them,)  and  in  the  third,  to 
render  the  assertions  of  the  memorial  on  this  point  more  than  questional 
ble,  he  was  able  to  trump  up  only  one  pretended  witness  in  the  person  of 
a  common  seaman  to  sustain  them,  and  that  too  on  the  very  day  of  its 
presentation  to  parliament.  It  is  a  significant  fact,  moreover,  that 
the  king's  speech  which  laid  the  grievances  set  forth  in  this  memorial 
before  the  nation,  makes  no  allusion  to  the  seizure  of  any  lands  or 
buildings  belonging  to  the  British  crown  at  Nootka,  though '  that 
assumption  found  its  way  into  the  treaty  framed  shortly  after  ;  and  it 
is  a  positive  fact,  too,  from  evidence  that  will  hereafter  appear,  that 
there  were  no  such  lands  or  buildings  there  to  seize.  The  British 
government,  however,  demanded  atonement  from  Spain  for  these 
outrages  on  its  flag,  but  though  it  prudently  avoided  representing  the 
Felice  and  Iphigenia  as  British  vessels,  it  was  guilty  of  the  monstrous 
inconsistency  of  claiming  for  itself  the  discoveries  and  territorial  acqui- 
sitions of  an  agent  and  employee  of  a  Portuguese  association.  By  way 
of  giving  weight  to  its  demands,  the  armament  of  two  large  fleets  was 
ordered,  and  similar  warlike  preparations  resounded  through  all  the 
naval  arsenals  of  indignant  Spain.  The  latter,  however,  being  disap- 
pointed in  expected  aid  from  France,  and  being  embarrassed,  more- 
over, in  her  finances,  and  in  her  foreign  and  domestic  relations,  was 


nilTORT  or  OREGOK. 


n 


obliged  to  submit  to  the  haughty  terms  imposed  upon  her.    These 
•are  embraced  in  a  treaty  between  the  two  high  contracting  powers 
noo  ^'g"^^  <^°  ^^^  '^^^^  October,  1790,  the  first  and  second  articles  of 
which,  provide  for  the  restoration  of  all  buildings  and  tracts  </ 
land  on  the  continent  of  North  America,  or  the  islands  adjacent,  of 
which  the  subjects  of  his  Britannic  majesty  were  dispossessed  in  April, 
1789,  by  Spain,  and  for  compensation  for  all  losses  by  violence,  hos- 
tility, detention  of  vessels,  &c.     The  third  guarantees  the  right  in 
common,  of  navigation,  of  carrying  on  the  fisheries  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  of  landing  on  the  unoccupied  portions  of  the  coasts  for  the 
purpose  of  trade  with  the  natives,  or  of  making  settlements ;  subject, 
nowever,  to  the  restriction  of  the  fourth  article,  that  British  subjects 
should  not  navigate  or  carry  on  their  fishery  within  the  space  of  ten  sea 
leagues  from  any  part  of  the  coasts  already  occupied  by  Spain.     By 
the  fifth,  these  common  rights  of  fishing,  trade  and  settlement  are 
«xtended  to  all  colonies  formed,  or  to  be  formed,  subsequent  to  April, 
1789.     By  the  sixth,  both  are  prohibited  from  forming  settlements  Im 
^outh  America  to  the  south  of  those  already  formed  by  Spain,  though 
the  liberty  of  a  temporary  landing  is  allowed  for  fishing  purposes. 
The  seventh  provides  for  the  form  of  convention  to  settle  subsequent 
■disputes ;  the  eighth,  and  last,  states  that  the  instrument  shall  be 
ratified  in  six  weeks,  and  the  treaty  thus  concludes  without  making 
•any  limit  for  the  duration  of  its  stipulations.*    It  will  be  remarked  that 
this  treaty,  though  humiliating  to  Spain  in  the  sense  of  forcing  com- 
pensation for  the  exercise  of  a  national  right,  mak«s  no  concession  of 
«  single  claim  of  sovereignty,  but  rather  secures  to  her,  additional 
advantages  and  protects  her  from  further  encroachments.     The  fol- 
lowing language  used  by  Mr.  Fox,  in  the  house,  in  opposition  to  "  a 
motion  for  an  address  to  his  majesty,  congratulating  him  on  the  highly 
-satisfactory  issue  to  the  late  negotiation,"  &c.,  will  serve  to  show  the 
estimation  in  which  the  whole  affair  was  held  by  the  leading  minds 
in  parliament.  '  *      "  ^  "^ 

"  What,  then,  was  the  extent  of  our  rights  before  the  convention,  and  to  what 
extent  were  they  now  secured  to  us  ?  We  possessed  and  exercised  the  free  navi- 
gation of  the  Pacific  ocean,  without  restraint  or  limitation.  We  possessed  and 
exercised  the  right  of  carrying  on  fisheries  in  the  South  seas,  equally  unlimited. 
This  estate  we  had,  and  were  daily  improving :  it  was  not  to  be  disgraced  by  the 
■name  of  an  acquisition.  The  admission  of  part  of  these  rights  by  Spain  was  all  w« 
had  obtained.  It  remained  to  inquire  what  it  had  cost.  Our  right  before  was  te 
settle  in  any  part  of  South  or  North-west  America  not  fortified  against  us  by  previ- 
ous occupancy,  and  we  are  now  restricted  to  settle  in  certain  places  only,  and  under 
certain  restrictions.  This  was  an  important  concession  on  our  part.  Our  right  of 
fishing  extended  to  the  whole  ocean ;  and  now  it,  too,  was  iimited,  and  to  bo  carriei 
■on  within  certain  distances  of  the  Spanish  settlements.  Our  right  of  making  scttle- 
mentn  was  not,  as  now,  a  right  to  build  hots,  but  te  plant  colonies,  if  we  thought 
■proper.     Surely  these  were  not  acquisitions. 

"  We  have  renounced  the  right  of  permanent  settlement  on  the  whole  extent  of 
South  America,  and  where  the  admitted  right  of  settlement  on  the  north-west  coast 
■commenced  was  completely  undefined. 

"  By  the  third  article,  we  are  authorized  to  navigate  the  Pacific  ocean  and  South 
seas,  unmolested,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  our  fisheries,  and  to  land  on  the 
unsettled  coasts  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  natives ;  but,  after  this  pompous 
Tecognition  of  right  to  navigation,  fishing,  and  commerce,  comes  aaother  article, 
■which  takes  away  all  right  of  landing  and  erecting  even  temporary  huts  for  any 
gpurpose  but  that  «f  carrying  on  the  fishing,  and  amounts  to  a  comjalete  derelictioa 

'  ""^Seo  Appendix,  No.  4j 


w 


insTORY  or  onsooir- 


of  all  rights  to  lottl*  in  any  way  fur  the  purpoia  of  comtntrce  with  tho  nntirni?! 
fn  ranouncing  all  right  to  makn  •ettlomfiita  in  8oulh  America,  we  had  giv«n  to- 
Spain  what  aho  conaiderod  inottitnablo,  and  had  in  return  been  contented  with  droaa.*' 

In  these  opinions  he  waa  sustained  bv  Grey,  Lansdowne,  and  tho 
other  eminent  whigs  of  tho  house.  This  treaty,  however,  is  made 
the  subject  of  another  llourish  of  title  by  the  English,  who  insist  that 
it  concedes  to  them  an  equal  right  with  Spain  to  any  unsettled  portion 
of  the  coasts.  We  have  Been  tl>e  opinions  of  the  leaders  of  the  British 
parliament  opposed  to  this  assumption  however,  and  we  shall  shortly 
see  its  dtinial  by  Spain.  But  even  admitting  it  to  be  so,  they  gain 
nothing  by  it,  for  in  four  years  afterward  a  war  broke  out  between 
the  two  contracting  parties,  which,  by  the  rules  of  international 
law,  annulled  all  existing  inter-arrangements  that  had  no  nrescribed 
limits  and  that  depended  for  their  continuance  i\pon  a  state  of  per- 
fect amity,  and  Spain  resumed  at  once,  whatever  she  had  resigned 
by  the  Nootka  treaty,  if  she  had  in  reality  resigned  anything  at  all. 
On  the  conclusion  of  peace,  the  treaty  was  not  revived  ;  consequently 
it  is  a  nullity,  and  all  that  Britain  accomplishes  by  advancing  her 
pretensions  on  it  now,  is  the  virtual  acknowledgment  of  the  integrity 
of  the  Spanish  claims  which  have  fallen  to  us,  and  which  she  had  so 
perseveringly  endeavored  to  acquire. 

This  convention  being  concluded,  the  next  thing  was  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  tracts  of  landj  buildings^  forts ,  Sic.  wrested  from  Mr. 
Meares  at  Nootka  in  1789,  and  the  English  Government  in  1791 
despatched  two  ships  under  Captain  George  Vancouver,  to  effect 
,the  purpose.  This  officer  arrived  at  Nootka  on  the  28th  August, 
'  1792,  where  he  found  the  Spanish  Commissioner  in  possession  and 
ready  to  perform  his  share  of  the  transfer.  Negotiations  between  the 
two  parties  were  then  opened,  and  it  became  necessary  ''  to  ascertain 
what  lands  on  the  North  West  coast  of  America  were  in  the  possession 
of  British  subjects,  and  what  buildings  were  standing  in  those  lands  in 
1789,  when  the  Spanish  first  occupied  Nootka."  For  this  purpose 
Quadra  applied  to  Maquina  and  his  principal  chiefs,  who  upon  being 
questioned,  positively  denied  that  any  lands  had  been  bought,  or  any 
nouses  built  by  the  English  at  Nootka  in  1789,  or  at  any  other  time. 
The  Commissioner  then  applied  to  Captains  Gray  and  Ingraham  as 
well  as  to  the  Portuguese  captain  of  the  Iphigenia,  all  of  whom  hap- 
pened to  be  there  at  the  time.  The  two  ffrst  replied  at  length  in  a 
circumstantial  account*  (now  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  at  Washington)  which,  after  explaining  with  manly  fairness 
all  the  events  that  provoked  the  seizure  of  Colnett's  vessels,  contains 
the  following  paragraph  : — 

"We  observe  your  wish  to  be  acquainted  what  house  or  establishment  Mr. 
Meares  had  at  the  time  the  Spaniards  arrived  here  ?  We  answer  in  a  word-^none  /' 
On  the  arrival  of  the  Columbia  in  1788,  there  was  a  house,  or  rather  a  hut,  con- 
aistint;  of  rough  posts  covered  with  boards  made  by  the  Indiana ;  but  this.  Captain 
Douglas  pulled  to  pieces  prior  to  his  sailing  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  in  the  same 
year.  Tne  boards  he  tooii  on  board  the  Iphigenia,  and  the  roof  he  gave  to  Captain 
Kendrick,  which  was  cut  up  and  used  as  firewood  on  board  the  Columbia ;  so  that 
on  the  arrival  of  Don  Estevan  Jos6  Marlines,  there  was  no  vestige  of  any  house 
remaining.  As  to  the  land  Mr.  Meares  said  he  purchased  from  Maquina,  or  any 
other  chief,  we  cannot  say  further  than  we  never  heard  of  any,  although  we  remained 
among  theae  people  nine  months,  and  could  converse  with  them  perfectly  well. 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  4* 


HISTORY    OK   OREOON. 


17 


noiiilm  tliJH,  wo  liavn  •akfd  M«qii!itA  niiil  nthor  cliiofn  liiicc  our  lito  arrivnl,  if 
<;n|)l:»iii  Mi'arfii  Jivnr  i)urcliii--"'d  iiny  Uml  iii  Nooiku  »oui.<l  !  Tli«:y  aiinwi-rfMl — iin ! 
thitt  Captain  Ki  iiJrick  wui  iliu  only  iiimi  to  whom  tlicy  had  ever  wuld  nriy  luiid.'* 

The  stnlciKPiUs  ol  lliis  letter  wm'  confirnicd  in  all  points  by  Cup- 
tain  Vinna,  uiid  thus  tlic  ^     ndaloiis  ialsiiios  of  Mcan-s'  iinsuiitainud 
inomorinl  were  >    riflusivtdy  rtd'utfd.     VancouvtT,  wlio  must  hav(^    . 
keenly  lelt  the  morlifu'iiHou  of  the  dileniitiB  into  which  the  nu'ndacity 
of  Meart'8  had  placed  him — "  tin;  Irnct  of  land  "  dwindling  to  u 
hundred  yards  square,  and  the  "  erections  "  to  the  remains  of  one 
miserabli'  hut — had  no  resource  hut  to  break  ofl"  the  nea;otiution,  and 
wend  to  Hngland  for  new  instructions.     Quadra  offered  him  the  small 
spot  temjMH'arily  occupied  by  Meares,  restricted  however,  with  the 
express  understanding  that  sitch  cession  should  not  interfere  -with  Ihc 
riphts  of  his  catholic  Mnjcsly  to  Nootka^  or  any  other  portions  of  tlje 
adjoining  coasts;  but  tlijs  was  refused  by  the  Urilish  comniissioner, 
who  having  sent  one  of  his  lieutenants  off  with  despatches,  Kailcd 
from  Nontkii  on  thu  13th  October,  and  left  the  Spaniards  in  pos- 
session  of  the  jjort.     In  1794  Vancouver  left  the  coast  without 
eli'ecting  his  object,  and  shortly  afterwords,  the  Spaniards  think- 
ing it  unnecessary  to  kc^ep  up  a  military  force  at  so  inconsiderable  a 
place,  withdrew  to  Mexico.     Jn  1796,  \vc  have  the  authority  of  Lieu- 
tenant Broughton  (whose  conduct  towards  Captain  Gray  we  shall 
have  occasion  shortly  to  analyse)  for  the  statement  that  in  the  pre- 
vious year,  (1775,)  the  Spaniards  had  delivered  up  th«  port  to 
Lieutenant   Pearce,  who  had  been  despatched  by  the  way  of 
Mexico  to  hasten  the  termination  of  the  business.     This  account, 
however,  is  denied  by  IJelKbam  in  his  history  of  Great  Britain,  who, 
though  a  Briton  himself,  and  tenacious  of  the  interests  of  his  country, 
says  :  "  It  is  nevertheless  certain  from  the  most  authentic  subsequent 
information,  that  the  Spanish  fag,  flying  at  the  fort  and  settlement  of  ' 
Nootka,  was  ivrer  struck  ;  and  that  the  v}hole  territory  has  been  vir- 
tually rdiiujiiished  by  Great  Britain.''''     This  is  by  far  the  most  re- 
liable story  of  the  two,  as  Broughton  says  he  derived  his  information 
from  Maqninn  only,  who  handed  him  a  letter  (he  does  not  say  from 
whom)  to  that  effect,  in  1796;  while  Belsham  asserts  the  contrary 
on  strength  of  his  own  inquiries  and  the  pledge  of  his  reputation  as  a 
historian.     The  latter's  account  is  also  the  most  probable,  as  Great 
liritain  was  at  this  time  engrossed  in  a  war  with  Republican  France, 
during  which  she  would  hardly  consider  such  an  obscure  and  insig- 
nificant spot  as  Nootko,  as  worthy  of  so  grave  a  notice.      In 
1796  Spain  declared  war  against  Great  Britain,  and  all  previously 
existing  arrangements  were  rendered  null  and  void. 

Having  completed  the  abstract  of  the  Spanish  title  up  to  1790,  our 
attention  is  next  claimed  for  an  examination  of  the  American  disco- 
veries, settlements,  and  purchases,  which,  in  themselves,  will  be 
found  sufficient  to  establish  our  rights  to  Oregon  against  the  world. 
For  the  purpose  of  conducting  the  inquiry  in  a  regular  manner  we 
shall  have  to  turn  a  few  years  back. 


2 


!» 


KISTOttT  OF  OltEGOW 


THE  UNITED  STATES'  TITLE. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  revolutionary  war,  the  enterprise  cA' 
our  People  turned  immediately  to  commercial  pursuits,  and  before 
three  years  had  rolled  over  the  Republic,  her  infant  marine  had  plumed 
its  wings  on  the  billows  of  every  ocean.  As  early  as  1787,  an  asso- 
ciation of  Bostqn  merchants  despatched  the  ship  Columbia,  Captain 
Kendrick,  and  the  sloop  Washington,  Captaire  Gray,  to  the  Nortiv 
Pacific,  t(y  be  engaged  in  the  fur  trade.  They  arrived  at  San  Lorenzo,, 
or  Noolka,  in  the  latter  part  of  September,  HS^B,  where,  as  we  have 
seen,  they  spent  the  winter.  In  the  following  year,  Captain  Gray,, 
in  the  sloop,  explored  the  Strait  of  Fuea  for  fifty  miles  in  an  east- 
wardly  direction,  and  collected  information  from  the  natives  on  the 
shore,  which  brought  him  to  the  conclusion  that  the  passage  commu- 
nicated northward  with  the  Pacitic,  at  an  opening  in  latitude  61^^' 
which  he  had  previously  discovered,  and  to  which  he  had  given  the- 
name  of  "  Pintard's  SouniJ."  This  opinion  was  the  first  intimation' 
the  world  ever  had  that  Nootka  was  situated  on  an  island.  An  erro- 
neous account  of  this  expedition'  was  uent  to  England  by  Meares, 
representing  that  Gray  had  sailed  through  and  through  the  strait,  and 
had  come  again  into  the  Pacific  in  the  56th  degree  of  north  latitude. 
This,  while  it  proves  Meares  to  be  incapable  of  a  stra^htforward 
story,  also  proves  that  he  could  not  at  that  time  have  entertaifled  an}' 
notion  of  claiming  the  island  for  the  British  crown,  for  such  a  report, 
by  admitting  the  superior  claim  of  another,  is  levelled  directly  against 
that  assumption.  Sailing  north,  Gray  next  circumnavigated,  for  tho 
first  time,  "  Queen  Charlotte's  Island,"  lying  between  latitude  ^l'' 
and  54°  and  believing  himself  to  be  the  original  discoverer,  named  it 
Washington's  Isle.  He  was  not  altogether  correct  in  this  opinion, 
for  its  northern  point  had  been  reached  by  Juan  Perez  in  1774, 
and  in  1787,  it  was  visited  by  Dixon^  an  English  captain,  who,  con- 
ceiving it  to  be  an  island,  named  it  after  his  vessel,  the  Queen 
Charlotte.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer,  Gray,  having  completed 
his  trading  operations,  (ratlier  unsuccessfully,)  sailed  on  his  return  tO' 
Nootka.  The  Columbia  left  Nootka  in  August,  1789,  for  Macao, 
with  the  officers  antl  crew  of  the  North-west  America.  On  her  way 
out  she  met  the  Washington,  when  it  was  agreed  that  Gray  should 
take  command  of  the  ship,  proceed  to  China,  and  from  thence  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  while  Kendrick  remained 
upon  the  coast.  During  the  yeais  '89  and  '91;  Kendrick  ranged  up- 
and  down  the  coasts  discovering  nany  ne^v  islands,  sounds,  and  in- 
lets ;  and  in  August  of  tlie  latter  jo>r,  he  purchased  by  formal  and 
public  arrangement,  and  by  regular  deed,  several  large  tracts  of  land 
near  Nootka  from  Maquina,  ^Vicannish,  and  other  chiefs  of  the  sur^ 
rounding  country.  This  purchase  is  spoken  of  by  tjeveral  English 
writers,  one  of  whom  describes  it,  as  being  in  "  a  most  fertile  clime, 
embraciiKj  four  degrees  of  latitude.''''  After  making  this  parchase,. 
Kendrick  sailed  for  the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  he  was  killed  by 
the  natives,  at  Owhyee.  In  September  of  this  year,  Gray  returned 
to  the  Pacific  in  the  Columbia,  followed  by  the  brig  Hope,  under  the- 
tommand  of  Joseph  Ingraham,  the  former  mate  of  the  Columbia. 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


19 


51^ 


Four  other  American  vessels,  also  bound  on  the  fur  trade,  arrived 
shortly  after,  and  with  the  Washington,  made  seven  vessels  in  all, 
bearing  the  stars  and  stripes  on  the  billows  of  the  north  Pacific. 

Gray  in  his  return  reached  the  coast  near  Cape  Mendocino, 
and  sailing  northward,  observed  an  opening  in  the  land  in  latitude 
46°  16',  from  which  issued  a  current  so  strong  as  to  prevent  his 
near  approach.  Being  convinced  that  it  was  the  outlet  of  a  great 
river,  he  endeavored  to  enter  it  by  repeated  efforts,  but  being  defeated 
through  a  period  of  nine  days,  he  abandoned  the  attempt  and  continued 
his  course  to  the  north.  In  August  we  find  him  at  54°  30'  north, 
where  he  discovered  the  broad  inlet  in  the  continent,  now  called  the 
"  Portland  Canal,"  which  he  navigated  in  a  north-easterly  direction  to 
the  distance  of  eighty  miles.  In  the  meantime  the  brig  Hope  and  the 
other  American  vessels  were  prying  in  every  nook  and  inlet  of  the 
coast,  in  indefatigable  pursuance  of  their  trading  operations. 

The  Columbia,  after  wintering  at  Clyoquot,  a  port  near  Nootka,  , 
set  out  with  her  enterprising  commander  in  the  spring  of  1792, 
to  renew  her  explorations.  It  was  about  this  time,  that  Vancouver 
arrived  upon  the  coast  to  meet  the  Spanish  Commissioner,  Quadra, 
who  was  already  awaiting  him  at  Nootka.  He  reached  the  coast  at 
about  43°,  and  commenced  a  careful  search  for  the  river,  laid  down  on 
the  Spanish  maps  at  46°  16'.  Like  Meares,  he  was  unsuccessful,  and 
declares  in  his  journal  "  though  he  had  sought  for  it  under  the  7nost 
favorable  circumstances  of  wind  and  weather^  it  was  his  deliberate 
opinion  no  such  river  existed  in  that  latitude.''''  He  sailed  onward,  and 
on  the  second  day  afterward,  met  Gray  at  the  entrance  of  the  Strait 
of  Fuca,  who  in  his  good  old  ship  had  just  left  his  winter  quarters. 

Gray  informed  Vancouver  of  his  northern  discoveries,  as  well  as 
his  discovery  of  a  great  river  in  46°  16' ;  upon  which  Vancouver 
abruptly  told  him  he  was  mistaken,  and  in  noticing  this  circumstance 
in  his  journal,  very  complacently  remarks — ^"  this  was  probably 
the  opening  passed  by  us  on  the  27th,"  adding — "we  have  now 
explored  a  great  part  of  the  American  continent,  extending  nearly  two 
hundred  and  fifteen  leagues,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances 
of  wind  and  weather,  and  have  seen  no  appearance  of  any  opening  in 
its  shores,  the  whole  coast  forming  one  compact,  solid,  and  nearly 
straight  barrier  against  the  sea."  A  little  piqued  at  the  Englishman's 
stolidity,  Gray  pushed  on  southward,  determined  to  demonstrate  the 
correctness  of  his  assertions.  In  his  course,  he  discovered  Bulfinch's 
harbor,  the  name  of  which,  in  common  with  the  appellations  bestowed 
by  him  on  his  other  discoveries,  the  British  geographers  have  altered 
to  suit  their  own  purpo.ses:  On  the  11th  May,  Gray  arrived  opposite 
the  entrance  of  the  river,  and  heedless  of  the  risk,  in  his  ardent  spirit 
of  enterprise  dashed  boldly  through  the  breakers  on  its  bar,  and  in  a 
few  moments  slid  out  upon  the  tranquil  bosom  of  a  broad  and  majestic 
river.*  Gray  spent  nine  days  in  it,  trading  meanwhile  with  the  natives, 
repairing  and  painting  his  vessel,  and  in  filling  the  casks  of  the  ship 
with  fresh  water  from  the  stream.  On  the  20th,  after  having  navigated 
it  as  far  as  the  draught  of  his  vessel  would  allow,  (between  25  and  30 
miles)  he  named  it  after  his  own  good  ship,  spread  his  sails  to  the 
wind,  and  beat  out  over  the  bar,  against  a  head  wind,  into  the  ocean. 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  5. 


20 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 


This  would  appear  to  bo  pretty  conclusive  evidence  of  the  discovery  of 
sovuilhhuj.  But  we  shall  shortly  see  that  the  diplomatic  keenness  which 
could  perceive  a  most  wonderful  discovery  in  the  mere  sailing  past 
a  scollop  in  the  shore,  by  Meares,  crowned  with  the  assertion  that  no 
river  existed  in  that  quarter,  cannot  find  in  the  actual  entrance  of  a 
river,  in  that  very  place,  and  in  its  navigation  to  the  distance  of  nearly 
thirty  miles  inland,  any  discovery  at  all.  As  xoe  intend,  however,  to- 
claim  it  as  a  discovery,  and  to  have  all  the  rights  and  privileges  flowing 
therefrom,  we  may  as  well  here  refer  again  to  the  rule  that  the  nation 
which  discovers  the  mouth  of  a  river,  by  implication  discovers  the 
■whole  country  watered  by  it.  Applying  this  principle  to  our  discovery 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  we  extend  our  own  title  with  the  limits 
of  its  mighty  branches,  from  the  53d  parallel  on  the  north,  to  the  42d 
on  the  south  ;  and  from  their  gurgling  sources  at  the  bases  of  the  Rocky 
.Mountains,  to  the  resistless  volume  that  swells  the  tide  of  the  Pacific. 
Having  taken  this  principle  as  the  rule  of  our  rights,  we  will  now 
briefly  advert  to  the  disgraceful  attempt  which  has  been  made  by  two 
British  officers  to  cheat  Gray  of  his  reward.  As  we  allude  to  Van- 
couver and  one  of  bia  lieutenants — Uroughton,  we  shall  have  to  fol- 
lowtheir  cour.se  for  a  while.  We  left  them  on  the  7th  May  parting 
with  Captain  Gray  at  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  from  which  point  they  sailed 
in  an  easterly  direction  along  its  southern  shore,  landing  once  or  twice 
to  beat  drums,  blow  trumpets,  and  display  flags  and  gaudy  uniforms 
to  naked  savages,  by  way  of  taking  formal  possession  of  the  country, 
in  violation  of  the  solemn  convention  whose  stipulations  it  was  their 
special  duty  to  conserve.*  While  they  were  thus  engaged  in  amusing 
the  innocent  and  unconscious  natives,  two  Spanish  schooners,  named 
the  Sutil  and  the  Mexicana,  which,  under  the  command  of  Galiano 
and  Valdes,  had  been  engaged  in  a  minute  survey  of  the  northern 
coasts,  arrived  in  the  .Strait  for  the  purpose  of  thoroughly  exploring 
that  also  ;  and  getting  the  start  of  the  Britons,  they  led  the  way  along 
its  northern  course.  A  meeting  took  place  between  the  parties  how- 
ever, and  to  settle  all  disputes  and  jealousies,  it  was  agreed  to  make 
the  search  in  company.  This  arrangement  wsvs;  faithfully  carried  out ; 
the  parties  entered  the  Pacific  at  Pintard's  Sound,  discovered  by 
Captain  Gray,  and  the  territory  on  which  Nootka  was  situated  was 
found,  according  to  his  predictions,  to  be  an  island.  The  combined 
fleet  shortly  afterwards  arrived  at  Nootka,  when  from  the  circum- 
stances of  the  joint  circumnavigation,  it  was  called  Quadra  and  Van- 
converts  island,  the  first  branch  of  the  appellation  being  the  name  of 
the  Spanish  commissioner  then  at  that  place.  We  have  seen  that  no 
arrangement  was  efiected  by  the  two  commissioners,  and  Vancouver, 
in  view  of  the  hopelessness  of  forcing  any  advantage  from  the  resolute 
Spaniard,  prepared  to  take  his  departure.  His  preparations  were 
accelerated  into  haste  by  being  informed  by  Quadra,  that  the  indefati- 
gable Yankee  whom  he  had  met  in  the  spring,  off  the  strait  of  Fuca, 
had  succeeded  in  entering  the  river,  the  existence  of  which  he  (Van- 
couver) had  denied,  and,  moreover,  that  he  had  explored  it  to  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  ocean.     In  proof  of  this,  Gray's  charts 

*  An  omission  has  l>f!en  niadn  under  the  date  of  1790,  of  a  Spanish  pxpedi'lion 
under  the  comiinnd  of  liieiiteriHiit  Qitiinppr,  which  siirvryed  the  Strait  of  Fuca  for 
100  miles,  disciivorini;  the  harbors  which  Vaiicotiver  in  tiio  above  espedi'ioii  named 
"  .Adrnirahy  fiilct,  Port  Uisuovcry,  Deception  ratsHge,"  &c. 


H13T0UY  0*"  OREGON. 


21 


ivere  laid  before  him.  No  man  likes  to  be  defeated  in  his  prognosti- 
cations and  opinions,  and  least  of  ail,  an  Enc;lisbtnan.  In  this  case  it 
v/iil  be  readily  imagined  the  rule  was  not  softened  with  Vancouver 
by  his  rival's  being  iVoni  Ijoston  bay.  Und(ir  these  bitter  i'eelings  of 
disappointment  and  chagrin,  Vancouver  hastily  set  out  for  the  river 
on  tlie  13th  of  October — five  months  after  the  discovery — vith  Gray's 
charts  and  descriptions  for  his  guides,  actuated  by  the  resolute  intention 
of  recovering  his  reputation  by  discovering  it  over  again.  On  the  18th, 
he  arrived  at  Bullfinch''s  J^ay,  the  name  of  which,  maugre  Gray's 
charts,  he  changed  to  VVhildley's  harbor,  after  one  of  his  lieutenants. 
Finding  on  his  arrival  at  the  mouth  of  tiu.-  Columbia,  that  the  draught 
of  his  own  vessel  would  not  admit  of  her  entrance,  he  sailed  on  to  the 
port  of  San  Francisco,  in  Calilorniu,  detaching  liieiitenant  Broughton 
to  the  service.  This  worthy  representative  and  coadjutor  entered  the 
river  in  the  Chatham,  on  the  2()th  of  October,  (five  tnonths  to  a  day 
from  the  time  of  Gray's  departure,)  and  there,  to  his  surprise,  Ibund 
anchored  the  brig  Jenny, of  Bristol,  which  vessel  had  also  got  its  infor- 
mation relative  to  tiieriver,  fiom  Psootkaa  l<nvdays  before.  The  stream 
was  found  as  Gray  had  described  it  to  be,  .seven  miles  wide  at  its 
niouth,  and  decreasing  to  the  extraordinary  narrowness  of  a  thousand 
yai'ds,  at  a  dista,nce  of  twenty-five  miles  from  tbe  sea.  This  remark- 
able circumstance  su^jresteil  an  idea  to  iJroujditon  and  Vancouver 
when  they  laid  their  heads  together  afterward  at  San  Francisco, 
which,  if  it  do  not  give  them  credit  for  an  e.\lraoiH.linary  stretch  of 
ingenuity,  at  least  bestows  upon  them  the  most  unquestionable  title 
for  meanness  and  dishonesty  that  could  jiossibly  be  contrived.  These 
gentlemen  asserted  that  the  river  commenced  at  the  distance  of  twenty- 
five  miles  from  the  sea ;  that  Gray  had  not  reached  this  point,  but  tl\e 
part  surveyed  and  explored  by  him  was  only  an  inlel  or  sound; 
consequently,  the  discovery  of  the  river  itself,  belonged  of  right  to 
Lieutenant  Broughton  !  Unfortunately,  however,  for  the.^e  maritime 
lexicographers,  the  geographical  definitions  of  these  terms  will  not 
consent  to  turn  themselves  wrong  side  out,  either  fur  their  purpo.ses, 
or  for  the  service  of  her  most  christian  majesty,  and  "  sounds,"  and 
"  inlets  "  of  the  sea,  despite  the  ungracious  straining  of  Captains 
Vancouver  and  Broughton,  will  still,  as  before,  stand  for  independent 
arms,  or  friths,  whose  waters  flowing  up  into  the  land,  are  necessa- 
rily salt.  The  waters  of  the  Columbia,  on  the  contrary,  ;ire  fresh  in 
their  whole  volume  to  within  ten  mil<>s  of  the  ocean,  at  wl.ich  ])oint, 
by  the  way.  Captain  Gray  filled  the  casks  of  his  ship.  The  conduct 
of  the  British  government  in  adopting  such  an  absurd  pretence  as  this, 
is  sulficiently  discreditable  ;  but  when  contrasted  with  tlH>  assumption 
in  favour  of  Meares,  it  receives  an  additional  tinct  of  dishonor,  and 
betrays  &  desperation  of  molivt?  approaching  to  insanity.  in  a 
tSlatemenl*  presented  by  the  British  plenipotentiaries  in  1S2G,  to  the 
xVmerican  minister,  embracing  a  number  of  pro{K),si lions  of  about  equal 
weight,  it  is  alleged  that  Mearcs  (!)  is  really  entilletl  to  the  merit  of 
the  discovery  of  the  Columbia,  because,  "  he  actually  ealeiod  its  bay 
in  1788,  to  the  northern  headland  of  which  be  gave  the  name  of 
Cape  Disappointment,  a  name  which  it  bears  to  this  day."  Thii-. 
reasoning  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  may  be  considered  as  the 
climax  of  argument,  and  the  world  may  now  rationally  hope  to  see 

*  Sec  Appendix,  No.  6. 


|l   *'! 


.'hi 


22 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


the  long  standing  proposition,  that  black  is  white  and  "white  is  black, 
satisfactorily  estubiished  by  the  transcendent  genius  of  British  diplo- 
macy. What  signifies  it  if  the  doctrine  in  favor  of  Mcares  lets  in  the 
superior  claim  of  Heceta,  or  if  the  rule  of  Vancouver  wages  destruction 
against  Meares,  the  proposition  is  fortified  at  both  ends,  and  those  who 
like  ntiay  fire  away  at  either.  Glorious,  wise,  powerful,  magnanimous 
England  !  happy  art  thou  in  the  possession  of  diplomatists,  whose 
sagacity  has  discovered  that  a  false  position  backed  with  power,  is 
better  than  a  true  one  supported  only  by  the  illusory  strength  of  right, 
and  who  have  the  moral  boldness  to  adopt  a  principle,  maugre  the 
whinlngs  of  all  the  theoretical  ideoligists  who  dream  of  honor,  and 
who  waste  their  lives  in  speculative  lules  of  ethics  ! 

From  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  between  Spain  and 
Great  Britain  in  1795,  up  to  the  year  1816,  the  monarchies  of  Europe 
were  too  much  engaged  in  wrestling  with  the  energies  of  revolutionary 
France,  and  in  resisting  the  stupendous  power  of  the  Empire,  to  pay 
any  attention  to  a  region  so  distant  and  insignificant  as  the  North 
West  coast  of  the  Pacific ;  but  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
whose  happy  geographical  position  preserved  them  from  being  em- 
broiled in  the  inhuman  strife,  availed  themselves  of  the  peculiar  fa- 
cilities thus  otiered  to  them,  and  carried  on  the  trade  exclusively 
between  the  North  West  coasts  and  the  China  seas. 
ISO;)"  Up  to  the  year  1803,  the  western  boundary  of  the  United 
States  was  the  river  Mississippi,  which  shut  from  our  possession 
the  vast  region  known  by  the  name  of  Louisiana,  now  comprising 
Iowa,  Missouri,  Missouri  Territory,  Indian  Territory,  Arkansas,  and 
the  small  portion  at  its  southern  extremity  which  still  retains  the 
former  name  of  all.  This  immense  country,  stretching  from  Canada 
on  the  north,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  south,  and  spreading 
breadthwise  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  mountains,  was  origi- 
nally owned  by  France,  who  obtained  her  title  to  it  through  the  dis- 
covery of  the  mouth  of  the  great  stream  which  drains  it,  by  two  of 
her  missionaries,  in  IfifiS,  and  by  subsequent  settlements  under  La 
Sale  and  others.  In  1763,  France  ceded  Louisiana  to  Spain.  In 
1803.  ^*^'"^  Spain  ceded  it  back  again  to  France,  and  in  1803  it  was 

'  purchased  from  France  by  the  United  States  for  the  sum  of 
$1.5,000,000.  As  soon  as  this  purchase  was  made,  the  importance 
of  Oregon  as  a  Pacific  gate  to  our  possessions,  became  at  once  appa- 
rent, and  Jefferson,  under  the  direction  of  Congress,  commissioned 
Captains  Lewis  and  Clarke  "  to  explore  the  river  Missouri  and  its 
principal  branches  to  their  sources,  to  cross  the  Rocky  mountains 
and  trace  to  its  termination  in  the  Pacific  some  stream,  whether  the 
Columbia,  the  Oregon,  the  Colorado,  or  any  other,  which  might  offer 
the  mo.s't  direct  and  practlcnbfe  water  commimication  across  the  cunti- 
jj^jj,^  neut  for  the  piirpnites  of  commerce.''''  In  1805,  these  officers  and 
their  men  crossed  the  mountains,  and  descending  into  Oregon^ 
discovered  a  number  of  streams  flowing  westward,  which,  upon  ex- 
atnination,  were  found  to  disembogue  into  the  Columbia  or  some  of 
its  huge  branches,  whose  comprehensive  arms  embrace  within  their 
.s[)an  the  42d  and  o8d  parallels,  and  roll  their  silver  bands  from  the 
mountains  to  the  sea.  On  the  l.nth  of  November,  they  reached  its 
im.  '"""*•'!)  an<l  building  a  fort      hich  they  called  "  BW  Catslop," 

'they  spent  the  winter  there-     In  the  spring  of  1806,  (March 


I 
I 


HISTORTf  OT  OREGON. 


28 


■ 


"j  3tTi,)  having  minutely  explored  the  surrounding  country,  tlie  party  set 
out  on  their  return,  and  after  proceeding  sonie  distance  up  the  stream, 
parted  company ;  the  one  to  explore  the  region  north,  and  the  other 
the  country  south.  They  met  in  the  month  of  August  following,  at 
the  junction  of  the  Yellowstone  and  the  Missouri  rivers,  on  the  eas- 
tern side  of  the  mountalRS.  Thus  we  find,  that  after  having  discov- 
■ered  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  in  1792,  we  explore  the  whole  ter- 
ritory drained  by  it  in  1805,  build  a  fort  at  its  mouth  in  November  of 
that  year,  and  thus  take  the  actual  possession  "  soon  after,"  which  is 
the  positive  condition  of  the  principles  of  international  law  previously 
■quoted, 

This^eing  a  difficult  circumstance  to  overcome,  the  British  govern- 
ment were  puzzled  for  a  time  how  to  rebut  or  to  offset  it ;  but  their 
'natural  fertility  of  resource  did  not  leave  them  long  at  a  loss,  and  re- 
sorting to  their  old  principle  that  bold  assertion  is  as  good  as  timid 
proof,  they  affirmed — that  "  at  least  in  the  same,  or  subsequent  years 
(1805-6)  Mr.  Thompson,  an  agent  of  the  North  West  company,  had 
established  posts  among  the  Flathead  or  Kootanie  tribes  (near  the 
.36th°  of  latitude)  and  that  it  was  from  this  point  he  hastened  down 
in  1811  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  American  establishment  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  viver." 

This  is  a  part  of  the  celebrated  diplomatic  Slatement  of  1826,  and 
from  its  definite  and  satisfactory  character,  is  worthy  of  taking  place 
beside  the  claims  of  Vancouver  and  Meares. 

The  accounts  given  by  Lewis  and  Clarke  on  the  return  of  their  ex- 
pedition, attracted  the  attention  of  commercial  men,  and  John  Jacob 
a\stor,  an  opulent  merchant  of  New  York,  who  was  then  engaged  in 
the  fur  trade  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  -conceived  the  foundation  of  a 
'Company,  whose  efforts  should  be  specially  confined  to  the  coast  of 
this  region.  Before  his  plans  were  consummated,  however,  the  Misr- 
-souri  Company,  another  American  association,  established  a  post  be- 
yond the  Rocky  mountains  on  the  head  waters  of  the  southern  branck 
of  the  Columbia  in  1808,  but  it  was  abandoned  in  1810  from  a 
difficulty,  through  the  enmity  of  the  neighboring  savages,  of  ob- 
taining regular  supply  of  food. 

In  1809,  Mr.  Astor  had  completed  his  arrangements,  and  the  ^^^ 
Pacific  Fur  company  by  his  exertions  assumed  a  definite  exis- 
tence.    In  that  year  the  ship  Enterprise  was  sent  into  the  north  Paci- 
fic "t©  make  preparatory  researches  and  inquiries  in  the  scenes  (rf  the 
new  company's  operations,"  and  in  1810  two  parties  were  formed, 
one  to  cross  the  continent  under  the  conduct  of  VV.  P.  Hunt,  the 
«hief  agent,  and  the  other  to  proceed  on  the  ship  Tonquin  by  sea.     In 
March,  1811,  the  ship  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and  the 
colonists  immediately  selecting  a  spot,  erected  a  factory  and  a  fort,  and 
in  honor  of  the  patron  of  the  enterprise,  called  the  establishment 
Astoria.     ]iy  some  means,  the  Mr.  Thompson  who  is  spoken  of  in  the 
'^Statement  alluded  to,  heard  at  his  station  on  Fraser's  lake  (between  lati- 
tudes r)4:^  55')  of  this  new  settlement,  and  gathering  together  a  party, 
posted  in  hot  haste  down  the  northern  branch  of  the  Columbia,  build- 
ing huts,  hoisting  flags  and  bestowing  names  by  way  of  taking  posses- 
sion as  they  passed  along.     They  reached  Astoria  a  little  too  late,  for 
on  arriving  there  in  July,  they  found  the  banner  of  the  States  waving 
-over  a  fort — they  found  factories  erected,  farms  laid  out,  and  the 


^'h' 


124 


HiSTORV  OF  OREr.O\. 


isia. 


!-^i 


contented  colonists  eating  of  the  produce  of  their  already  llourislunL' 
j.';ardens.  They  were,  therefore,  obliiz;ed  most  reluctantly  to  retrace 
their  steps  northward,  after  receivin<j;  the  unwelcome  information  that 
the  posts  of  which  they  had  pretended  to  take  possession  on  their  way 
down,  had  all  been  visited  five  years  before  by  ofTicers  of  the  United 
States. 

In  the  sprinf);  of  1S12,  the  other  party  of  emigrants  under  Mr. 
Hunt,  completed  their  journey  across  the  continent,  and  arrived 
safely  at  the  settlement  among  their  hrnlher  traders.     A  few  days 
after  this  event,  the  ship  Beaver  arrived  from  New  York,  with  still 
further  reinforcements  and  supplies,  and  it  was  decided  that  Mr.  Hunt, 
the  chief  agent,  should  sail  in  her  in  charge  of  an  expedition  to  the 
northern  coasts,  the  aflliirsof  the  factory  being  entrusted  (unfortunate- 
ly as  will  be  seen)  to  the  charge  of  McDougal,  one  of  the  Scotchmen' 
who  had  formerly  been  in  the  service  of  the  North  West  company. 
During  the  absence  of  Mr.  Hunt,  the  news  of  the  declaration  of  war 
by  the  United  States  against  Great  Britain  reached  Astoria,  and  crea- 
ted no  small  degree  of  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  the  American  mem- 
hers  of  the  companj',  for  they  at  once  saw  the  diilicullies  this  would 
lead  to  between  themselves  and  their  British  associates.     This  infor- 
mation w^as  received  in  January  from  New  York,  and  in  June  follow- 
ing, an  agent  of  the  North  West  company  arrived  from  Canada,  bring- 
ing news  of  the  approach  of  a  British  naval  force  to  take  possession 
of  the  American  settlement.     The  Scotchmen  and  Englismen  connect- 
ed with  the  association  received  the  report  with  ill  concealed  satisfac- 
tion, and  several  of  them  withdrew  from  the  service  at  once  for  that 
of  the  rival  company.     Those  who  remained  could  scarcely  be  con- 
sidered faithful,  beyond  the  considerations  of  the  pecuniary  interest 
that  were  involved  in  the  affair.     Anxious  consultations  were  held, 
in  which  the  foreigners  held  a  superior  and  controlling  influence. 
This  was  the  natural  consequence  of  their  position,  for  having  been 
selected  with  a  view  to  their  superior  knowledge  of  trading  operations 
gained  in  a  previous  service  with  the  North  West  company,  they  held 
all^he  most  responsible  situations. 

The  latter  proposed,  in  view  of  the  approaching  danger,  to  abandon 
the  enterprise  altogether,  unless  additional  reinforcements  and  sup- 
plies should  speedily  arrive  from  New  York  to  their  assistance.  This 
the  Americans  strenuously  opposed,  choosing  rather  to  trust  to  the 
chances  of  their  enemies  not  appearing,  or  in  case  they  did,  to  risk 
the  hazard  of  a  struggle;  but  the  resolution  prevailed,  and  the  mi- 
nority of  interests  was  bound  to  submit.  At  length  Hunt  arrived,  but 
AVith  all  his  efforts,  was  unable  to  change  the  determination  of  the 
Scottish  partners,  and  knowing  the  impossibility  of  conducting  the 
operations  of  the  concern  in  case  of  their  defection,  h^  was  obliged 
to  submit  to  the  arrangement.  He,  therefore,  in  ;'ir.-uance  of  the 
decision  set  sail  for  the  Sandwich  Islands,  for  the  purpose  of  charter- 
ing some  vessels  to  convey  the  furs  then  stored  in  the  factory,  and 
other  properties  of  the  company,  to  Canton.  In  the  month  following 
his  departure,  a  deputation  from  the  North  West  Company  descended 
the  river  to  Astoria,  bringing  the  additional  information  that  a  British 
fiiijaia  having  under  her  convoy  a  large  armed  ship  belonging  to  the 
N.  W.  Company,  was  on  her  way  to  the  Columbia  with  the  intention 
of  destroying  every  thing  American  in  that  quarter.     The  commuui- 


HISTORV  OF  OREGON. 


ab 


cation  of  this  news  was  accompanied  by  an  ofler  on  the  part  of  the 
leader  of  the  deputation,  to  purchase  out  the  whole  stock  in  trade, 
and  other  properties  of  the  Pacific  company  ;  adding  as  an  additional 
inducement,  that  thoy  would  engage,  at  a  liberal  rate  of  wages,  all 
who  might  choose  to  enter  their  service,  and  agreed  to  send  liack  to 
the  United  Slates  all  who  wished  to  return.  This  whole  measure 
had  doubtless  been  secretly  concocted  by  the  Scotch  partners  of  the 
Pacific  Company,  who,  to  effect  it,  had  got  Hunt  out  of  the  way,  and 
the  agents  of  the  other  party  were  proceeding  exactly  accorchng  to 
previously  imparted  directions.  The  proposal  to  employ,  while  it 
looked  like  an  emanation  of  generosity,  was  a  most  insidious  piece  of 
treachery  to  entice  away  the  employees  on  whom  the  Pacific  Coni- 
]jany  depended  for  existence,  and  in  such  a  state  of  society  as  existed 
there,  was  deserving  of  the  punishment  of  death.  It,  however,  af- 
forded the  Scotchmen  an  opportunity  to  secede  without  an  appear- 
ance of  absolute  defection,  and  softened  the  opposition  of  those  who 
were  not  unwilling  to  return  to  a  more  congenial  society  in  their  own 
country.  The  transfer  was  accordingly  made,  and  the  Pacific  Com- 
pany lost  its  identity  in  the  North  West  Association. 

From  the  time  of  their  first  arrival  in  the  territory  to  the  date  of 
this  relinquishment,  the  Pacific  Company  had  established  fojr  forts  or 
trading  posts,  besides  the  main  one  at  Astoria.  These  were  Fort 
Okanegan,  situated  at  the  confluence  of  that  river  and  the  north 
branch  of  the  Columbia — Spokan  House,  on  the  river  of  the  same 
name,  and  a  branch  of  the  latter  establishment  pushed  further  west, 
among  the  Flathead  and  Kootanic  tribes — a  post  on  the  Kooskooske, 
and  one  on  the  Wallamette  river.  All  of  these  establishments  were 
included  in  the  transfer  of  Astoria. 

This  inglorious  termination  of  the  enterprise  took  place  on  the  jg.g 
16th  October,  1813.  It  was  principally  brought  about  by  a 
Scotchman,  named  Duncan  McDougal,  whom  Hunt  had  unwisely 
left  in  command  of  the  fort,  and  wHo  was  strongly  suspected  of  hav- 
ing been  bribed  to  his  course  by  the  rival  company.  At  any  rate,  the 
arrangement  squared  with  his  feelings,  and  he  made  it  subserve  his 
interest. 

On  the  1st  December,  before  the  transfer  was  completed,  the  Brit- 
ish sloop  of  loar  Raccoon  arrived  at  Astoria,  expecting  a  rich  plunder 
by  the  capture  of  the  magazines  and  treasures  of  the  Pacific  Com- 
pany ;  but  all  she  found  for  prize  was  the  American  flag  still  waving 
its  glorious  folds  above  the  fort.  This  remained  there,  notwithstand- 
ing the  existence  of  the  Pacific  Company  had  ceased  more  than  two 
months  before ;  for  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  had  be- 
longed to  it,  insisted  that  this  emblem  of  the  Republic's  sovereignty 
over  the  soil,  formed  no  portion  of  the  transfer  to  the  English  com- 
pany. The  following  account  of  the  capture  of  Astoria,  and  the 
taking  possession  of  the  fort,  by  Ross  Cox,  who  gathered  his  in- 
formation on  the  spot,  shortly  after  the  events  took  place,  will  not 
inly  serve  to  throw  some  light  upon  the  motive  of  McDougal's 
ueachery,  but  will  also  corroborate  our  claims  to  the  first  settlement 
of  that  region. 

"  C'lptain  Black,"  (the  commander  of  the  T?accoon,)  "  took  possession  of  Astoria 
in  tho  name  of  his  Britannic  Majesty,  and  re-baptised  it  by  the  name  of  Fort 
Georjjn      He  also  insisted  on  having  an  inventory  taken  of  the  valuable  stock  of 


ae 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


{ati  and  other  property  purchaied  from  the  American  company,  with  a  view  to  the 
adoption  of  ulterior  proct^cdinija  ifi  England  for  the  recovery  of  the  viilue  from  the 
North  West  Company ;  but  he  Bnbseqiicnlly  relinquished  this  idea,  and  we  heard 
no  more  of  his  claims.  The  TndianA  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  knew  well  th.u 
Great  Britain  and  America  were  distinct  nations,  and  that  they  were  then  at  war, 
but  were  iirnorant  of  the  arrangement  made  between  Messrs.  McDougaland  Tavish, 
(the  agent  of  iho  North  Wesi  Company,)  the  former  of  whom  still  continued  as 
nominal  chief  at  the  fort.  On  the  arrival  of  the  Raccoon,  which  they  quickly  dis- 
covered to  be  one  of  King  George's  fiirliting  ships,  they  repaired  armed  to  the  fort, 
and  requested  an  audience  of  Mr.  McDonj;aT.  He  was  somewhat  surprised  at  their 
numliers  and  warlike  appearance,  and  demanded  the  object  of  such  an  unusual  visit. 
Concomly,  the  principal  chief  of  the  Chenooks,  (whose  daughter  McUougal  had 
married,)  thereupon  addressed  him  in  a  long  speech,  in  the  course  of  which  ho  said 
that  King  George  had  sent  a  ship  full  of  warriors,  and  loaded  with  nothing  but  big 
guns,  to  take  the  Americans  and  make  them  all  slaves ;  and  that  as  theij  (the 
Americans)  tccrc  the  first  v>hile  men  that  settled  in  their  country,  and  treated  the 
Indians  like  good  relations,  they  resolved  to  defend  them  from  King  George's  war- 
riors, and  were  now  ready  to  conceal  themselves  in  the  woods,  close  to  the  wharf, 
from  whence  they  would  be  able  with  their  guns  and  arrows  to  shoot  all  tho  men 
that  should  attempt  to  land  from  the  English  boats,  while  tho  people  in  the  fort 
could  6re  at  them  with  their  big  guns  and  rifles.  This  proposition  was  oflfered  with 
an  earnestness  of  manner  that  admitted  no  doubt  of  its  sincerity ;  two  armed  boats 
from  the  Raccoon  were  approaching,  and,  had  the  people  in  the  fort  felt  disposed  to 
accede  to  the  wishes  of  the  Indians,  every  man  of  them  would  have  been  destroyed 
by  an  invisible  enemy.  Mr.  McDougal  thanked  them  for  their  friendly  offer ;  but 
added,  that  notwithstanding  the  nations  were  at  war,  the  people  in  the  boats  would 
not  injure  him  nor  any  of  his  people,  and  therefore  requested  them  to  throw  by  their 
war  shirts  and  arms,  and  receive  the  strangers  as  their  friends.  They  at  first 
seemed  astonished  at  this  answer ;  but,  on  assuring  them  in  the  most  positive  man- 
ner that  he  was  under  no  apprehensions,  they  consented  to  give  up  their  weapons 
for  a  few  days.  They  afterwards  declared  they  were  sorry  for  having  complied  with 
Mr.  Dougal's  wishes  ;  for  when  they  observed  Captain  Black,  surrounded  by  his 
ofRcers  and  marines,  break  the  bottle  of  port  on  the  flag-staff,  and  hoist  the  British 
ensign,  after  changing  the  name  of  the  fort,  they  remarked,  that  however  much 
one  might  wish  to  conceal  tho  fact,  the  Americans  were  undoubtedly  made  slaves ; 
and  they  were  not  convinced  of  their  mistake  until  the  sloop  of  war  had  departed 
without  taking  any  prisoners." 

'  It  is  not  our  intention  to  assert  that  McDougal  should  have  accepted 
of  this  offer  of  the  Indians  against  his  own  nation,  but  it  proves  that  with 
such  friends  as  the  aborigines  of  the  country,  the  settlement  could 
never  have  been  seriously  distressed  for  supplies  ;  and,  therefore,  that 
his  representations,  on  which  the  resolution  to  abandon  the  place  was 
based,  were  false.  Had  Mr.  Hunt  possessed  those  means  of  resistance, 
and  been  in  McDougal's  situation,  the  property  of  the  company  would 
not  have  been  sold,  and  the  flag  upon  the  fort  would  never  have  been 
struck. 

The  war  ended  in  1814,  and  by  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  signed  on 

the  24th  December,  of  that  year,  it  was  declared  "  that  all 
territory^  places^  and  possessions  whatever,  taken  by  either  party  from 
the  other  during,  or  after  the  war,  should  be  restored  without  delay. ^^ 
In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  article,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  in  October,  1817,  despatched  the  sloop  of  war  Ontario, 
with  Captain  Biddle  and  J.  B.  Prevost  as  Commissioners  to  Astoria, 
and  they  duly  received  the  surrender  of  that  place  by  the  British 
authorities,  on  the  6th  day  of  October,  1818. 

In  this  same  year  a  negotiation  was  carried  on  in  London, 

between  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  two  Governments,  for  the 
settlement  of  a  northern  boundary  line,*  which  resulted  in  the  establish- 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  7. 


1814. 


1616. , 


*« 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


27 


)t>ent  of  the  49th  parallel,  from  the  north-western  point  of  the  Lake 
of  the  Woods  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  as  the  divitl  line  between 
the  British  Possessions  and  the  territory  of  the  Staws,  leaving  the 
portion  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  bordering  on  the  Pacific,  subject 
to  the  restrictions  of  the  following  article  : 

'*  Art.  3.  It  ia  agreed  that  any  country  that  may  bo  claimed  by  cither  party  on 
the  northwftst  coast  of  America,  westward  of  the  Stony  Mountaini,  shall,  together 
with  its  harbors,  bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  naviuation  of  all  rivers  within  iho  same, 
bo  free  and  open  for  the  term  of  ten  years  from  the  date  of  the  signature  of  the 
present  Convention,  to  the  vessels,  citizens  and  subjects  of  the  two  Powers  ;  it  being 
well  understood  that  this  agreement  ia  not  to  be  construed  to  the  prejudice  of  any 
r.laim  winch  either  of  the  two  high  contracting  parties  may  have  to  any  part  of  the 
said  country,  nor  shall  if  be  taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  another  Power  or  State  to 
any  part  of  the  said  country  ;  the  only  object  of  the  high  contracting  parlies,  in  that 
respect,  being  to  prevent  disputes  and  difficulties  among  themselves." 

It  is  plain  from  the  wording  of  this  article  that  England  relied  very 
lightly  upon  the  strength  of  her  own  claims  to  the  territory  in  dispute  ; 
the  concluding  clause  being  a  virtual  acknowledgment  of  the  superior 
rights  of  Spain,  whose  anger  is  carefully  deprecated,  by  the  assurance 
that  neither  party  aspired  to  her  title,  but  that  "  their  only  object "  in 
making  this  arrangement  in  regard  to  the  common  privileges  of  naviga- 
tion, fishing,  &c.,  was  to  "  avoid  differences  among  themselves." 
It  is  not  necessary  to  explain  that  while  this  arrangement  goes  to 
conclude  the  pretensions  of  its  proposer  it  does  not  now  in  the  slight- 
est degree  affect  us.  The  whole  aim  of  the  manoeuvre  is  sufficiently 
transparent  to  those  acquainted  with  the  political  relations  existing 
between  the  courts  of  Madrid  and  St.  James  at  the  periods  of  its  per- 
formance. Impoverished  and  feeble  Spain  was  looked  upon  by  Great 
Britain  as  a  much  less  formidable  opponent  than  the  Bepublic 
which  had  just  emerged  triumphantly  from  a  war  with  her  upon  her 
own  element.  Her  object,  therefore,  was  to  preclude  us  at  all  risks. 
She  would  be  satisfied  if  she  could  make  her  own  invalid  title  balance 
ours,  for  then  she  would  magnanimously  propose  a  joint  relinquishment 
in  favor  of  the  third  claimant  whose  cause  she  had  so  insidiously 
fortified.*  After,  this  it  would  not  have  been  long,  of  course,  before 
exhausted  Spain  would  have  been  forced  to  redeem  one  of  the  deep 
involvements  incurred  in  the  peninsular  war,  by  turning  the  north 
west  coast  over  to  her  subtle  and  grasping  creditor.  It  would 
appear  that  our  ministers  at  London  divined  this  motive  in  the  course 
of  the  negotiation,  for  an  immediate  offer  was  made  on  our  part  to 
Spain,  and  that  power,  wisely  concluding  to  sell  rather  than  to  give 
away,  closed  with  our  overtures  at  once ;  and  thus  England's  over- 
reaching diplomacy  was  skilfully  turned  against  herself. 

The  negotiation  with  Spairi  on  this  subject  terminated  on  the  22d 
of  February,  1819,  (four  months  after  the  treaty  of  1818  of  which  j^jg 
the  above  article  is  a  part,)  in  what  is  now  known  as  the  "  Flori- 
da treaty."  By  this  treaty  the  United  States  purchased  all  Florida, 
and  likewise  all  the  territory  belonging  to  the  crown  of  Spain  north 
of  the  42d  d?gree  of  latitude  for  the  sum  of  five  millions  of  dollars,  in 
the  shape  of  a  release  of  that  amount  of  claims  held  against  her  by  our 

*  This  opinion  ia  strengthened  by  one  of  England's  present  offers  of  compromise 
which  is,  that  both  of  us  relinquish  Oregon,  for  the  common  settlement  of  it  for  an 
independent  nation,  and  also  by  her  recently  developed  intrigues  in  relation  to  Cali- 
fornia and  Texas. 


SB 


lUSTonV  OV  OIIEHON. 


1818. 


inorclinuts,  and  of  which  tlio  Unittnl  States  nssmnccl  the  payment- 
Tliis  arran<;i!iiiont  of  course  rner!5(;d  tlie  Spani.sh  title  in  our  own," 
and  by  llius  reinovin!!;  the  only  possibh;  coni.licling  claim,  phiced  tiie 
latter  upon  a  basis  oi'indir<pi)tahle  validity. 

The  chief  value  however  that  w(?  attach  to  this  cession  on  the  ))art 
of  Spain,  is  for  its  comph'te  subversion  of  the  pretensions  of  lOnijlani!, 
on  the  principle  of  original  discovery  of  points  of  the  coast.  Our  own 
uidividual  title  to  Oregon  is  in  itself  made  complete  to  O.T  by  the 
.single  principle  of  international  law,  which  confers  the  whole  country 
drained  by  a  river  and  its  tributaries,  to  the  discoverer  of  its  mouth. 
^Ve  recognized  this  principle  in  the  purchase  of  the  immense  territory 
formc^rly  comprehended  under  ihe  name  of  Loui'^iana,  and  whih*  we 
have  paid  a  penalty  of  ///"/te/i  m'lUion  of  dollars  in  vindication  of  its 
integrity,  wo  have  a  peculiar  right  to  the  benefit  of  it  when  it  runs  in 
our  favor. I 

The  treaty  of  1818  expiring  in  IS'iS,  the  convention  was  re- 
newed in  1.S20,  but  as  before,  no  definite  conclusion  was  arrived 
at,  and  the  negotiation  resulted  in  the  following  year,  ju  ;;  where  it  had 
begun,  the  provisions  of  the  former  treaty  being  indefinitely  extended, 
subject  only  to  the  additional  stipulation,  that  either  party  desiring  to 
abrogate  it,  might  do  so  on  giving  twelve  months  notice  to  the  other. ;j; 

From  the  period  after  the  sale  of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  to  the 
North  West  Association,  (now  merged  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,) 
and  the  consequent  departure  of  most  of  the  Americans,  British 
subjects,  consisting  entirely  of  attaches  of  this  latter  body,  acquired  n 
preponderance  in  the  territory,  and  by  ingenious  management  of  their 
wealth  and  power,  continued  for  a  time  pugresslvely  to  increase  it. 
This  circumstance  has  been  very  seriout-iy  brought  forward  by  the 
supporters  of  the  English  title,  as  a  new  right  to  the  territory  they 
usurp  ;  as  if  the  tyranny  their  monstrous  wealth  had  enabled  them  to 
exercise  over  every  American  citizen  within  the  reach  of  their  inllu- 
ence,  gave  them  an  additional  right  to  outrage  the  Government  by  a 
usurpation  of  its  title. 

There  is  nothing  overstrained  in  these  remarks  ;  indeed,  they  but 
very  inadequately  express  the  outrageous  means  resorted  to  by  these 
affiliated  tyrants  to  crush  every  interest  oppcsed  to  them.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  taken  from  the  work  of  Thomas  P.  Farnham,a  traveller 
of  ability  and  character,  will  afford  some  notion  of  their  operations  and 
policy  : 

"  Fort  Hall  was  built  by  Captain  Wyeth,  of  Boston,  in  18.32,  for  the  purposes 
of  trniio  with  the  Indians  in  its  vicinity.  He  had  laiten  goods  into  iho  lower  part 
of  the  Territory  to  exchange  for  sahnon.     But  competition  soon  drove  him  from  his 

♦  Sec  Appendix,  No.  8. 

t  It  may  be  captiously  objected  to  this  argument,  that  France  derived  hnr  tiilf 
from  the  cession  of  Spain  In  1800,  but  it  v^ill  be  rRcoliocted  that  France  oriiiiiiaily 
acquired  a  title  to  the  vast  region  watered  by  the  Mississippi  by  the  discovery  of  the 
mouth  of  tliat  river  by  two  French  missionaries  m  16G3.  and  sustained  it  by  subse- 
quent t'xplor.uion  and 'settlement,  which  is  our  case  exactly  in  regard  to  the  Colum- 
bia. On  this  claim  she  held  it  for  a  hundred  years,  till  by  a  treaty  of  policy  in  1763, 
involvintr  no  question  of  validity  of  title,  it  was  ceded  to  Spain,  and  by  a  similar 
arrangement,  on  similar  considerations,  it  was  in  1800  ceded  back  to  France.  Its 
so\ereignty  passed  from  band  to  hand  on  the  strength  of  the  principle  involved  in 
the  original  title,  and  by  virtue  of  that  principle,  it  ccine  to  us. 

t  See  .\ppcndix,  No.  9. 


HISTORY  OF  ORKGOIf. 


fisheries  to  tli'u  romoto  i<pot,  where  he  hnped  to  be  prrmillcd  to  purchmo  fnra  of  tho 
Indians  wiflioiii.  being  molctitcd  Ity  tho  Hudson'n  Buy  Company,  whoso  nenre»l|insi 
was  fit'vcn  hiindrrd  miles  avviiy. 

In  tliiH  hn  wan  disnppointcd.  In  piirsHanco  of  tho  avowed  doctrine  of  tlint  company, 
that  no  others  havo  a  ri;j;ht  to  trade  in  tho  furs  west  of  the  U(icl<y  Moiinluins,  while 
tiieiisoof  cnpiial  and  their  incomparable  hIuII  and  perscvernnceciiri  prevent  it,  they 
establinhed  it  fort  near  iiim,  preceded  him,  followed  him  every  where,  «rid  cut  tho 
throat  of  his  proafierity  with  such  kindness  and  politeness,  that  VN'yeih  was  induced 
to  sell  his  wliulu  interest,  existent  and  prospective,  in  Oregon,  tu  his  generous  but 
too  indefatigable,  skilful,  and  powerful  antagonixts. 

Mr.  Farnhnm  has  written  \.\w.  word  "  gtincrous"  in  good  I'aith  and 
honest  Roman  characters,  as  if  h«  really  thought  it  were  generous  in 
the  II.  H.  Company,  to  give  Mr.  Wyeth  a  price  Tor  his  property,  alter 
forcing  him  to  its  sale  by  the  basest  means  !  But  Mr.  Farnhain  ate  a 
most  superlative  dinner  afterward  at  Fort  Vancouver,  and  this  may 
somewhat  account  for  the  tenderness  of  his  construction. 

\Vhile  we  are  U|)on  this  subject  we  will  furnish  the  reader  with  a 
further  insight  into  the  corporate  economy  and  operations  of  this 
association,  from  the  same  author. 

"  A  ehartor  was  granled  bv  Charles  II.,  in  1070,  to  certain  British  subjectt 
associated  under  tho  name  of  "The  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  virtue  of  which 
they  were  allowed  the  cxctufivo  privilege  of  establiahin;^  trading  factories  on  the 
Hudson's  Bay  and  its  tributary  rivers.  Soon  after  the  grant,  the  company  took 
]io88PB3ion  of  the  territory,  and  enji)yed  its  trade  without  opposition  till  1787  ;  when 
was  organized  a  powerful  rival  under  tho  title  of  the  "  North  American  Fur  Com- 
pany ol  Canada."  This  company  was  chiefly  composed  of  Canadian-born  subjects 
— men  whose  native  energy  and  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  Indian  character, 
peculiarly  <iualified  thpm  for  the  dangers  ai,d  hardships  of  a  fur  trader's  life  in  the 
frozen  regions  of  British  America.  Accordingly  we  soon  find  the  Northwest  out- 
reaching  in  et;terprize  and  commercial  importance  their  less  active  neighliors  of 
Hudson's  Day  ;  and  the  jealousins  naturally  arising  between  parties  so  situated, 
leading  to  the;  most  barbarous  battles,  and  the  sacking  and  burning  each  other's  posts. 
This  state  of  things  in  1819  arrested  the  ulitnlion  of  parliaincnt,  and  an  act  was 
passed  in  1821  consolidating  the  two  companies  into  one,  under  the  title  of  "Tho 
Hudson's  Bay  Company." 

"  This  association  is  now,  under  the  operation  of  their  charter,  in  solo  possession 
of  all  that  tract  of  country  bounded  north  by  the  northern  Arctic  Ocean  ;  east  by  the 
Davis'  Straits  and  the  Allaiitie  Ocean;  south  anil  southwestwardly  t  y  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  Canadas  and  a  line  drawn  through  the  centre  of  Lako  Superior  : 
thence  northwestwardly  to  tho  Ijake  of  the  Wood  ;  thence  west  on  the  49tii  parallel 
•f  north  latitude  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  along  those  monntains  to  tlio  61th 
parallel ;  tlience  westwardly  on  that  line  to  a  point  nine  marine  leagues  from  the 
Pacific  Ocean  ;  and  on  tho  west  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  last  mentioned  point, 
and  running  northwardly  parallel  to  tho  Pacific  coast  till  it  intersects  the  141st 
parallel  of  longitude  west  from  Greenwich,  Eng.,  and  thence  duo  north  to  the 
Arctic  Sea. 

"They  have  also  leased  for  twenty  years,  commencing  in  March,  1840,  all  of 
Russian  America  except  the  post  of  Sitka  ;  the  lease  renewable  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  H.  B.  C.  They  are  also  in  possession  of  Oregon  under  treaty  stipulation  between 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  Its  stockholders  are  British  capitalists,  resident  in 
Great  Britain.  From  these  are  elected  a  board  of  managers,  who  hold  their  meet- 
ings and  transact  their  business  at  "  The  Hudson's  Bay  House,"  in  London.  This 
board  buys  goods  and  ship  them  to  their  territory,  sell  the  furs  for  which  they  are 
exchanged,  and  do  all  other  business  connected  with  the  company's  tiansactions, 
except  the  execution  of  their  own  orders,  the  actual  business  of  collecting  furs,  in 
their  territory.  This  duty  is  entrusted  to  a  class  of  men  who  are  called  partners, 
but  who,  in  fact,  receive  certain  portions  of  tho  annual  net  profits  of  the  company's 
business,  as  a  compensation  for  their  services.. 

"  These  gentlemen  are  divided  by  their  employers  into  diflfercnt  grades.  The  first 
of  these  is  the  Governor- general  of  all  the  company's  posts  in  North  America.  He 
resides  at  York  Factory,  on  the  west  shore  of  Hudson's  Bay.  The  second  class  are 
chief  factors  ;  the  third,  chief  traders ;  the  fourth,  traders.     Below  these  is  another 


30 


itiiiTOiiY  or  ORCaON. 


■%•■ 


citii,  called  elerki.  Thois  are  usually  youngor  mnmbori  of  rmpcctable  Scotliali 
familiea.  They  are  not  dirnctly  interfatcd  in  tlin  comimny'*  pruf'it*.  Iiui  receive  an 
anmi'il  anlary  of  X 100,  fooil,  suitHUo  clothing,  and  ii  body  it-rvnnt.duriiiK  an  npprcn- 
tict'ihip  of  sdven  yrnri.  At  the  expirHliun  of  this  term  they  orn  eligible  tu  the 
tradecnhipi,  fHcter*hip8,  i^rc.,  that  m'ly  bo  vacated  by  donth  or  retirement  from  the 
aervict.'.  VVhiln  WHilint;  for  iidvnncnment  thny  are  allowed  from  X'80  tu  £\iO  per 
annum.  Tlio  lorvanta  omplovcd  about  their  pottii  and  in  their  journeyinga  are  half* 
breed  IroqnoiH  and  (!!ana<lian  Fronchrncn.  Theto  they  enlist  fur  fivu  year*,  at  wages 
varying  from  608  to  880  p^r  nnnuni. 

"An  annnnl  Conned  componod  of  the  Governor  General,  chief  factors  and  chief 
traders,  \»  liuld  at  York  Knctory.  Before  this  body  iire  bron^rlit  tlio  ropurtx  of  the 
trade  of  each  dintrict ;  iiropusitions  fur  new  enterprises,  and  modifications  of  old 
ones;  and  all  these  and  other  matters  deemed  important,  being  acted  upon,  the  pro- 
ceedings  had  thereon  and  the  reports  from  the  several  districts  are  forwardtnl  to  the 
Uoard  of  Uirrctors  in  London,  and  subjected  to  its  fiiinl  order. 

"This  shrewd  company  never  allow  their  territory  to  be  overtrapped.  If  the 
annual  return  from  any  well  tra()ped  district  be  less  in  any  year  than  formerly,  they 
order  a  less  number  still  to  be  taken,  until  the  benver  and  other  fur  bearing  animals 
have  time  to  increase.  Tiie  income  of  the  company  is  thus  rendered  uniform,  and 
their  business  perpetual. 

"  Some  ideo  may  be  formed  of  the  net  profit  of  their  business,  from  the  facts  that 
the  shares  of  the  company'rt  stock,  which  originally  cost  JiiOO,  are  at  lUO  per  cent, 
premium,  and  that  the  dividends  range  from  ten  per  cent,  upward,  and  tliis  too 
while  they  are  creating  out  uf  the  net  proceeds  an  immense  reserve  fund,  lo  be 
txpendct!  in  keeping;  other  persons  out  of  the  trade. 

"  They  also  have  two  migratory  trading  and  trapping  establishments  of  fifty  or 
sixty  men  each. — The  one  traps  and  trades  in  Upper  California ;  the  other  in  the 
country  lying  west,  south,  and  east  of  Fort  Hall.  They  also  have  a  steam  vessel 
heavily  armed,  which  runs  alont;  the  coast,  and  among  its  bays  and  inlets,  for  the 
twofold  purpose  of  trading  with  the  natives  in  places  where  they  have  no  post,  and 
of  outbiddir.gand  outselling  any  American  vessel  that  attempts  to  trade  in  those  seas. 
They  likewise  have  five  sailing  vessels,  measuring  from  100  to  500  tons  burthen 
and  armed  with  cannon,  muskets,  cutlasses,  &.c.  These  are  employed  a  part  of  the 
year  in  various  kinds  of  trade  about  the  coast  and  the  islands  of  the  North  Pacific, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  time  in  bringing  goods  from  London,  and  bearing  back  the 
furs  for  which  they  are  exchanged. 

One  of  these  ships  arrives  at  Fort  Vancouver  in  the  spring  of  each  year,  laden 
with  coarse  woolens,  cloths,  baizes,  and  blankets ;  hardware  and  cutlery ;  cotton 
cloths,  calicoes,  and  cotton  handkerchiefs  ;  tea,  sugar,  colTee,  and  cocoa ;  rice,  tobac- 
co, soap,  beads,  guns,  powder,  lead,  rurn,  wine,  brandy,  gin,  and  playing  cards  ;  boots, 
shoes,  and  ready-made  clothing,  &c. ;  also,  every  description  of  sea  stores,  canvas, 
cordage,  paints,  oils,  chains  and  chain  cables,  anchors,  &c.  Having  discharged  these 
"  supplies,"  it  takes  a  cargo  of  lumber  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  or  of  flour  and  good* 
to  the  Russians  at  Sitka  or  Kamskatka ;  returns  in  August ;  receives  the  furs  col- 
lected at  Fort  Vancouver,  and  sails  again  for  England. 

"The  value  of  peltries  annually  collected  in  Oregon,  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, is  about  8140,000  in  the  London  or  New-Yoik  market.  The  prime  cost  of 
the  goods  exchanged  for  them  is  about  $20,000.  To  this  must  be  added  the  per 
contage  of  the  officers  as  governors,  factors,  &c.  the  wages  and  food  of  about  400 
men,  the  expense  of  shipping  to  bring  supplies  of  goods  and  take  back  the  returns 
of  futs,  and  two  years'  interest  on  the  investments.  The  company  made  arrange- 
ments in  1939  with  the  Russians  at  Sitka  and  at  other  ports,  about  the  sea  of  Kams- 
katka, to  supply  them  with  flour  and  goods  at  fixed  prices.  And  as  they  are  opening 
large  farms  on  the  Cowclitz,  the  Umpqua,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  Territory,  for 
the  production  of  wheat  for  that  market ;  and  as  they  can  afTord  lo  sell  goods  pur- 
chased in  England  under  a  contract  of  50  years'  standing,  20  or  30  per  cent,  cheaper 
than  American  merchants  can,  there  seems  a  certainty  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany will  engross  the  entire  trade  of  the  North  PaciKc,  as  it  has  that  of  Oregon. 

"  Soon  after  the  union  of  the  Northwest  and  Hudson's  Bay  Companies,  the  Brit 
ish  Parliament  passed  an  act  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Canadian  courts  over 
the  territories  occupied  by  these  fur  traders,  whether  it  were  "  owned  "  or  "  claimed 
by  Great  Britain."  Under  this  act,  certain  gentlemen  of  the  fur  company  were  ap- 
pointed justices  of  the  peare,  and  empowered  to  entertain  prosecutions  fur  minor 
ofTences,  arrest  and  send  to  Canada  criminals  of  a  higher  order,  and  try,  render  judg- 
ment, and  grant  execution  in  civil  suits  where  the  amount  in  issue  should  not  ex- 


HISTORY  or  ORinOIf 


St 


r<>ctl  X300  ;  and  in  ciia  or  non-payment,  to  imprison  the  debtor  Rt  their  own  forti, 
or  III  ilifl  jail*  of  Canada. 

"  And  ihiiH  in  Hhown  thnt  the  trade,  and  the  civil  and  rriminnl  juriadiciion  in 
Oregon  arn  ht-ld  by  DritiHli  aulijecia ;  that  American  citizena  are  deprived  of  their 
own  coinnH-rcial  rnjlits  ;  that  Ihny  are  hahle  to  be  nrrei»trd  on  thf'ir  own  territory  by 
(iniccrn  iif  Urili-th  ciiiirtK,  tried  iti  tlis  Ainoricun  doiiiniii  by  Uritiah  jud^jea,  and  im- 
prisoned  or  hunj;  iiccnrding  to  thn  lawa  ot  the  Uritiah  empire,  for  acta  don«  within 
the  lerritorini  limits  of  the  U«pubhc.*' 

We  have  hore  an  example  of  the  very  llbernl  construction  the 
British  govornmont  have  put  upon  th«  common  right  to  "  navi- 
gate the  bays,  creeks  and  harbors  of  the  coast.  In  defianoe  of  8 
treaty  expressly  denying  the  arrogation  of  any  riu;ht  of  sovereignty  on 
the  part  of  either  of  the  high  contracting  parties  over  the  other, 
it  has  seized  upon  the  chief  prerogatives,  nay,  the  very  essence 
of  sovereignty  itself,  by  the  establishment  of  courts  of  judicature 
throughout  the  territory,  and  by  the  positive  enforcement  of  its  laws 
on  all  within  it. 

That  this  course  justifies  any  extremity  of  counter  action  on  our 
part,  in  the  shape  of  immediate  occupation,  or  otherwise,  is  plain  to 
the  judgment  of  any  unbiassed  mind.  Indeed,  when  we  consider 
the  inimical  influences  that  have  been  unfairly  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  interests  of  our  citizens — withering  their  enterprise  and  para- 
lyzing their  energies — we  can  hardly  restrain  from  advocating  retalia- 
tory proceedings  to  fulfil  the  measure  of  redress.* 

Having  traced,  in  regular  detail,  the  progress  of  every  important 
event  connected  with  the  discovery  and  settlennent  of  the  North  West 
coast  and  the  territory  of  Oregon,  we  may  now  take  a  brief  and  com- 
prehensive view  of  the  whole  subject,  for  the  purpose  of  measuring 
at  a  glance  the  aspect  and  merits  of  the  entiie  question. 

We  find,  then,  that  a  piece  of  territory,  comprising  four  hundred 
thousand  square  miles,  and  lying  on  the  North  West  coast  between 
parallels  42"^  and  54°  40'  north,  is  claimed  by  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  states  respectively. 

We  find  that  the  English  Government  advance  international  law 
in  support  of  their  claims,  and  base  their  pretensions  upon  the  prin- 
ciples which  confer  title  by  discovery,  and  which  bestow  the  posses- 
sion and  sovereignty  of  the  whole  region  drained  by  a  river  and  its 
tributaries,  upon  the  discoverer  of  its  mouth  ;  and  we  find  that  they 
have  nothing  better  to  oflTer  than  the  voyages  of  Drake  and  Cook  to 
entitle  them  to  the  benefits  of  the  first,  and  that  they  seek  to  secure 
the  latter  by  the  exploits  of  Meares  and  Vancouver  ! 

The  United  States  accept  these  propositions,  rebutting  all  the 
flimsy  pretensions  by  which  they  are  sought  to  be  sustained  on  the 
other  side,  by  the  Spanish  title  ;  and  confirming  its  own,  independent 
of  both,  on  the  exclusive  merits  of  having  first  discovered,  first  ex- 
plored, and  first  settled  the  territory  in  question.  The  conclusions 
are  established  in  the  oiuer  following. 

First — We  find  that  Spain,  whose  claims  are  ours  by  purchase, 

*  We  have  learned  by  recent  information  from  Oregon,  that  the  American  aet- 
tlcrs  beyond  the  Koci<y  mountains  have  resisted  the  exercise  of  British  ciuthority, 
and  formed  a  local  legislature  of  their  own.  If  our  citizens  should  be  able  to 
sustain  their  new  position,  il  does  not  alter  the  nature  of  the  above  aggression.  The 
oppressor  is  nor  e  the  less  deserving  of  condemnation  because  he  is  obliged  to  re- 
tinquiah  the  victinis  of  his  wrong. 


% 


32 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


had  explored  the  coast  as  high  as  latitude  43°  north,  nearly  forty 
years  previous  to  the  arrival  of  Drake  at  the  same  point,  and  we 
find  in  a  series  oF  national  expeditions  she  stretched  that  exploration 
to  tlie  5Slh  degree  in  177"),  three  years  previous  to  the  arrival  of 
Captain  Cook,  on  whose  assumed  discovery  of  Nootka,  the  English 
place  their  heaviest  degree  of  reliance. 

Second— \Ye  find  that  the  impudent  claim  for  Meares  (!)  of  the 
discovery  of  the  Columbia,  because  he  looked  for  and  could  not  find 
it,  is  subverted  by  the  superior  claim  of  Heceta,  (if  either  exploit 
furnishes  a  claim,)  who  sailed  through  its  bay  three  years  before,  as- 
serted its  existence,  assigned  its  precise  latitude,  and  laid  it  down 
upon  the  Spanish  charts. 

Third — We  find  that  Captain  Robert  Gray,  of  Boston,  in  the 
course  of  the  years  1790  and  1791,  discovered  sounds,  inlets,  and 
channels  ;  entered  rivers  and  circumnavigated  islands  along  the  whole 
line  of  the  coast ;  that  in  1792,  he  next  discovered  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  and  navigated  it  to  the  distance  of  over  twenty  miles  in- 
land, before  any  other  white  man  had  ever  seen  it ;  and  sorrv  are  we 
to  say,  we  alsJO  find  that  a  mean  and  dishonorable  attempt  was  made 
to  rob  him  of  the  honor  due  to  the  daring  exploit,  by  two  British 
officers,  who,  though  they  sailed  thither,  months  afterwards,  with  his 
charts  for  their  guides,  sought  by  a  disgraceful  quibble  to  appropriate 
his  credit  to  themselves. 

Fourth — VVe  find  that  during  the  years  1796  and  1814,  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  the  jiorth  Pacific  was  carried  on  exclusivel}'  by  our 
citizens,  and  that  they  rendered  the  geography  of  that  region  almost 
perfect  by  the  numerous  discoveries  tliey  made  in  ranging  up  and 
down  its  north  west  shores. 

Fifth — VVe  find  that  the  British  reliance  on  the  pretended  conces- 
sions of  the  Spanish  treaty  of  1790,  is  forced  and  fallacious,  for  the 
war  of  1796  annulled  its  imperfect  stipulations,  and  their  clinging  to 
it  has  no  other  eflirict  than  to  substantiate  the  value  of  our  purchase. 

Sixth — We  find  that  having  triumphantly  rebutted  the  English 
claims  on  the  score  of  discovery,  we  beat  them  likewise  on  the  points 
of  exploration  and  settlement,  for  in  1S05-6,  a  scientific  commission 
appointed  by  our  government,  thoroughly  explored  the  Oregon  terri- 
tory from  the  sources  of  the  Columbia  to  the  sea,  and  were  in  full 
possession  of  it  by  settlement  six  months,  or  a  year,  before  a  British 
establishment  was  made,  even  as  low  as  55°  north. 

And  thus,  to  conclude,  we  find  that  every  condition  imposed  by 
justice,  every  formality  required  by  international  law,  has  been  per- 
formed by  us  to  consummate  our  right  to  Oregon  ;  and  while  all  our 
dealings  in  reference  to  the  subject  have  been  straightforward,  and  in 
gooil  faith,  we  have  been  met  with  nothing  on  the  part  of  England, 
but  arrogant  assumption,  low  finesse,  and  vulgar  cheatery.  No  MTong 
has  b{!en  too  bold  for  their  attempt,  no  resource  too  mean  for  their 
adoption,  and  the  contempt  that  is  in  one  moment  excited  by  the 
unworthy  fetch  of  a  pretended  discoverer,  or  the  miserable  subterfuge 
of  a  conspiracy  of  geographers,  gives  place  in  the  next  to  the  indigna- 
tion aroused  at  the  unparalleled  arrogation  of  a  foreign  corporation,  of 
sovereignty  over  the  free  citizens  of  our  Republic. 

If  we  have  submitted  to  this  long  enough,  it  is  surely  time  for  us 
io  say  so.     "     ' 


,l-i 
« 


Right 


knows  of  no  degrees  , 


Justice  acknowledges  no 


HnXORT  OF  OREGON.  93 

relatloni^hip  with  policy ;  and  we  should  reject  the  proffer  of  a  com- 
promise as  unworthy  of  the  dignity  of  our  claims.  The  acceptance 
of  a  composition,  is  at  best  but  a  submission  to  a  portion  of  wrong, 
and  the  nation  which  takes  but  a  share  of  its  due,  when  it  is  strong 
enough  to  enforce  the  whole,  is  dishonored  both  in  the  eyes  of  its  own 
People  and  of  the  world.  Let  us  therefore  settle  this  question  as 
becomes  us,  and  no  longer  stand  in  the  humiliating  position  of  negotia- 
ting with  Great  Britain,  whether  we  shall  have  our  own  or  no  !  We 
should  be  baffled  no  longer  with  the  absurd  pretensions  of  the  Drakes, 
the  Cooks,  the  Vancouvers,  and  the  Meares,  those  diplomatic  John 
Does  and  Richard  Roes,  who  are  only  introduced  to  confuse  the 
question,  and  to  mislead  its  issues.  We  should  disdain  all  comprom- 
ises, and  refuse  all  proposals  of  arbitrament.  Monarchs  are  no  judges 
for  Republics.  We  should,  in  brief,  reject  the  entertainment  of 
any  consideration  short  of  the  full,  and  unconditional  resumption 
OF  ALL  Oregon,  whenever  such  a  policy  shall  be  deemed  by  us  to  be 
Necessary. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  OREGON. 


ITS  ISLANDS. 


,!.■:. 


Hatiirs  satisfactorily  established  out  title  to  Oregon,  our  next  inquiry  becomes, 
^hat  it  is,  and  h«w  we  may  most  readily  and  completely  avail  ourselves  of  its  ad- 
vantages.  We  have  already  shown  in  the  foregoing  pages,  that  Oregon  is  a  vast 
«ountry  lying  on  the  Pacific  ocean,  stretching  along  the  coast  through  twelve  de- 
grees and  forty  minutes  of  latitude,  extending  its  eastern  limits  into  the  body  of 
the  Rocky  mountains,  and  embracing  within  those  boundaries  an  area  of  four  hun- 
dred thousand  square  miles.  Attached  to  this  immense  territory,  and  extending 
along  the  whole  line  of  its  coast  from  the  Strait  of  Fuca  to  its  northern  limit,  and 
even  beyond  that  to  the  Arctic  sea,  is  a  continuous  chain  of  islands,  known  by  the 
general  name  of  the  North  Wcst  Aicchipela<?o,  which  in  themseves  can  scarcely 
be  regarded  as  less  than  a  feature  |of  secondary  importance.  The  largest  are  all 
traversed  by  mountain  ridges,  in  the  direction  of  their  greatest  length,  and  the  whole 
archipelago  may  be  considered  as  a  portion  of  the  westermost  chain  of  mountains, 
broken  off  from  the  main  land  at  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  and  running  through  the  sea, 
connecting  those  of  Oregon  on  the  south,  with  the  range  on  the  north,  of  which 
Mounts  Fairweather  and  St.  Elias  are  the  most  prominent  peaks. 

The  first  and  chief  of  these  islands  is  Qdadra  and  Vancouvbr's.  This  extends 
along  the  coast  from  48^  30',  in  a  northerly  direction,  for  the  space  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles,  and  forms,  by  its  parallel  course  with  the  coast,  (from  which  it  is 
distant  about  twenty  miles,)  the  celebrated  arm  of  the  sea  called  the  Strait  of  Fuca. 
Its  average  width  is  about  forty-five  miles,  and  it  contains  a  surface  of  about  16,000 
square  miles.  The  dimate  of  this  island  is  mild  and  salubrious,  and  large  portions 
of  its  soil  are  arable  and  capable  of  advantageous  cultivation.  It  has  an  abundance  of 
fine  harbors,  which  afford  accommodations  for  vessels  of  any  size.  The  chief  of 
these,  is  Nootka  Sound,  the  Port  Lorenzo  of  the  Spaniards,  a  spacious  and  secure 
bay,  running  deep  into  the  land,  under  parallels  49*^  34',  and  containing  within  itself 
many  other  harbors,  affording  most  excellent  anchorage. 

A  few  mites  south  of  Nootka,  we  come  to  another  large  bay,  called  Clyoquot,  in 
wbkh  we  have  seen  (bat  Captain  Kcadrick  preferred  to  remain  daring  the  winter  of 

3 


'T* 


34 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


1789,  to  any  other  harbor  on  the  coast.  There  is  another,  still  further  sou  tit 
named  Nittinat,  which  lies  at  the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  and  is  filled  with 
an  archipelago  of  little  islands.  The  coasts  of  this  island,  and  indeed,  the  coasts 
of  those  above,  abound  with  fine  fish  of  various  descriptions,  among  which  the 
■almon  predominate.  In  consequence  of  their  fisheries,  the  islands  are  more  nu- 
merously populated  by  the  natives  than  the  territory  of  the  main  land. 

The  next  island  of  significance,  is  Washington,  or  Queen  Chailotte's.  It  re- 
ceived the  former  title  from  Captain  Gray,  who  circumnavigated  it  for  the  first  time 
in  the  summer  of  1789.  It  is  triangular  in  its  form,  is  one  hundlred  and  fifty  miles 
in  length,  and  contains  four  thousand  square  miles.  A^fter  Gray's  visit,  it  became 
the  favorite  resort  of  the  American  traders  of  the  north  Pacific.  Its  climate  and 
•oil  are  represented  by  Captain  Ingraham  as  being  extremely  well  adapted'  for  agri- 
cultural purposes,  particularly  those  portions  in  the  vicinity  of  a"  fine  harbor  in  lati- 
tude 5'3°  3'  on  its  eastern  coast,  and  at  Fort  Estrada,  or  Hancock's  river,  on  the 
north  side. 

The  islands  of  the  next  importance  below  the  southern  cape  of  Prince-of-Walea' 
Island,  (which  is  the  point  of  oar  northern  boundary  line,)  are  Pitt's,  Burke's, 
Dundas'  and  the  Princess  Royal  groups.  Most  of  these  lie  between  Washington 
Island  and  the  shore,  and  form  a  numerous  archipelago,  which  renders  the  interven- 
ing navigation  extremely  tortuous  and  difiicult.  Between  Washington  and  Van- 
couver's Island,  are  a  continuous  line  of  others,  of  considerable  size,  lying  closer  to 
the  land,  and  following  with  their  eastern  outlines  almost  every  sinuosity  of  the 
continental  shore.  These  latter  groups  are  for  the  moat  part  uninhabited,  and  are 
composed  of  granite  and  pudding  stone,  which  appear  to  be  the  prevailing  rock 
north  of  latitude  forty-nine.  They  are  generally  destitute  of  fresh  water,  and 
having  but  few  anchorages,  the  strong,  intervening  currents  render  navigation 
perplexed  and  dangerous.  They  are  only  resorted  to  by  the  natives  in  the  Dpring 
and  in  the  fall  on  account  of  their  fisheries. 


■1 


■$ 


I 


m 


i:,i 


THE  COAST  AMD  ITS  HABBORS^ 

The  coast  of  Oregon  from  the  forty-second  parallel  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colum- 
bia, pursues  a  northwardly  course,  and  from  that  point,  trends  with  a  slight  and 
gradual  westerly  inclination  to  the  Strait  of  Fuca.  Its  profile  consists  of  a  bold, 
high,  wall-like  shore  of  rock,  only  occasionally  broken  into  gaps  or  depressions, 
where  the  rivers  of  the  territory  find  their  way  into  the  sea.  The  first  of  these 
openings  above  the  southern  boundary  line,  is  the  mouth  of  the  Klamet.  This  is  a 
stream  of  considerable  size,,  issuing  from  the  land  in  42°  40',  and  exteixiiiig  into  it 
to  a  distance  of  150  miles.  It  has  two  large  tributaries,  called  by  the  unromantic 
titles  of  Shasty  and  Nasty  rivers,  an  error  of  taste,  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  fu- 
ture "  Alleghanians"  who  inhabit  their  fertile  valleys,  will  correct  and  reform.  The 
bay  of  the  Klamet  is  admissible  only  for  vessels  of  very  light  draught ;  its  whole 
valley  is  extremely  fertile,  and  the  country  adjacent  to  the  stream  abounds  with  a 
myrtaceous  tree,  which,  at  the  slightest  agitation  of  the  air,  dififuses  a  fragrance  that 
lends  to  it  another  feature  of  an  earthly  paradise.  Between  this  and  the  Umpqua, 
river,  disemboguing  in  33°  30',.  are  two  other  small  streams,  neither  of  which, 
however,  afford  a  harbor  available  for  commercial  purposes. 

The  Umpqua  liver  is  a  considerable  stream,  entering  the  land  to  the  distance  of  a 
hundred  miles.  It  has  a  tolerable  harbor,  navigable,  however,  only  for  vessels 
drawing  eight  feet  of  water,  and  its  stream,  thirty  miles  from  the  sea,  is  broken  by 
rapids  and  falls.  Its  valley  is  blessed  with  its  portion  of  the  general  fertility  of  the 
lower  region  of  Oregon,  and  consists  of  alternate  groves  of  stupendous  timber  aixl 
rich  arable  plains.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  have  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  the  site  of  which  is  the  scene  of  a  flourishing  settlement.  Five  lesser  streams 
find  their  way  into  the  sea,  at  intervals,  from  this  point  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colum- 


1 


HISTORY  OF  ORECON. 


3S 


bia,  and  contribute  their  aid  in  fertilizing  the  extensive  region  lying  between  the 
<:oB8t  and  the  parallel  barrier  running  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  known  as  the  President's  range  of  mountains. 

The  mouth  of  the  Oobmbia  is  found  at  46°  16',  but  is  only  distinguishable  from 
the  sea,  by  a  slight  and  gradual  inner  curve  in  the  shore.  Like  all  the  harbors 
formed  by  the  rivers  on  the  sea  coast,  it  is  obstructed  with  extensive  sand  bars, 
formed  by  the  deposits  of  the  river  on  its  meeting  with  the  ocean,  and,  according  to 
Lieutenant  Wilkes,  "  its  entrance,  which  has  trom  four  and  a  half  to  eight  fathoms  of 
water,  is  impracticable  for  two-thirds  of  the  year,  and  the  difficulty  of  leaving  it  is 
equally  great."  It  is  thought  by  some,  that  these  obstacles  may  be  removed  in  time 
t)y  artificial  means,  but  it  is  an  extremely  doubtful  question  whether  it  can  ever  be 
made  an  available  harbor  for  vessels  of  any  draught. 

Passing  Cape  Disappointment,  the  northern  headland  of  the  river's  mouth,  we  sail 
forty  miles  further  north,  where  we  find  a  secure  anchorage  in  Gray's  bay,  for  vessels 
drawing  ten  feet  of  water ;  but  this  harbor  is  considered  of  little  importance  on 
account  of  the  extensive  sand  flats,  which  usurp  the  greatest  portion  of  its  entire 
surface.  From  Gray's  bay,  to  Cape  Flattery,  the  southern  point  of  the  strait  of 
Fuca,  but  two  streams,  and  those  of  but  trifling  significance,  break  the  overhanging- 
barrier  of  the  coast. 

We  have  now  traversed  the  whole  coast  of  Oregon  lying  immediately  on  the 
Pacific,  and  in  its  course  of  five  hundred  miles,  find  but  two  places  of  refuge  for 
vessels,  (Gray's  bay,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia)  and  even  these  are  of  but 
trifling  importance  in  a  commercial  point  of  view.  Indeed,  all  geographical  autho- 
rities agree,  that  none  of  the  harbors  on  this  portion  of  the  coast,  can  be  deemed 
safe  ports  to  enter. 

The  next  branch  of  the  coast  demanding  our  attention,  is  that  which  lies  along 
the  strait  of  Fuca.  This  immense  arm  of  the  sea  cuts  off  the  northward  line  of  the 
coast  at  Cape  Flattery,  in  latitude  48°  23',  and  runs  apparently  into  the  land  in  a 
south-easterly  direction  for  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles.  It  then  turns  north- 
west by  west,  and  following  that  direction  for  three  hundred  miles  more,  joins  the 
sea  again  at  Pintard's  sound.  The  southern  portion  of  this  strait  varies  from  fifteen 
to  thirty  miles  in  width,  and  the  coast  of  Oregon  along  its  course,  is  an  exception 
in  its  maritime  advantages,  to  the  portion  immediately  on  the  sea.  It  abounds  with 
fine  inland  sounds,  offering  a  secure  anchorage  to  vessels  of  the  heaviest  draught, 
and  there  are  no  portions  of  the  interior  navigation,  which  conceals  a  hidden  danger. 
The  straits  can  be  entered  in  any  wind,  and  the  great  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides  offer 
facilities  for  building  maritime  establishments  unsurpassed  in  any  portion  of  the 
world.  Here,  whatever  direction  emigration  may  for  the  present  take,  the  commer- 
Cfial  operations  of  the  territory  will  eventually  centre,  and  the  din  of  our  naval 
arsenals  will  proclaim  to  the  world  the  fulfilment  of  the  prediction  that 

"  The  course  of  empire  has  westward  found  its  way." 

The  most  important  branch  of  this  strait  is  a  spacious  arm  descending  from  its 
eastern  extremity  in  a  southerly  direction,  into  the  land  to  the  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred miles.  It  is  called  Admiralty  Inlet,  and  the  lowermost  portion  of  it  is  known  as 
Poget's  sound.  This  inlet,  like  the  other  southern  portions  of  the  strait,  is  filled 
with  splendid  harbors,  the  southernmost  of  which,  has  the  peculiar  advantage  of  being 
within  but  little  more  than  three  hundred  miles  of  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Mis- 
souri. Great  quantities  of  bituminous  coal  have  been  found  in  its  vicinity,  and  there 
are  other  peculiar  advantages  attached  to  the  station,  which  must  eventually  make 
it  a  point  of  tho  first  importance.  These  circumstances  have  not  escaped  the 
watchful  eyes  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  they  have  already  established  a 
fort  and  a  settlement  there  by  way  of  securing  possession  of  the  point.*    At  the  south- 

*Theooiuiderationof  the  maritime  advantages  of  the  southern  coast  of  the  Strait  of  Fuos  and 
Fuget's  Sound,  suggests  a  pretty  forcible  view  of  the  remarkable  liberality  of  Oreat  Britain^ 


^ 


HisTOKY  OT  ovtvaatr^ 


1  ■; 


east  end  of  Vancouver's  island,  there  is  a  small  archipelago  of  islands/which,  tiiongb 
well  wooded,  are  generally  destitute  of  fresh  water.  They  are,  consequently,  for  the 
most  part  uninhabited.  The  coast  of  the  main  land  along  the  north  western  course  of 
the  strait,  is  cut  up  and  penetrated  hy  numerous  inlets,  called  from  their  perpendicular 
sides  and  deep  water,  canals,  liiey  afford  no  good  harbors,  and  offer  but  few 
inducements  to  frequent  them.  One  large  river  empties  into  the  strait  about  latitude 
49°,  which  pursues  a  northerly  direction  for  several  kundred  miles.  It  is  called 
the  Tacoutche,  or  Fraser's  river,  and  has  a  trading  post  named  Fort  Langley, 
situated  near  its  mouth.  The  other  portion  of  the  coaet  to  the  north  is  much  of 
the  same  character  as  that  south  of  this  river,  on  the  stiait.  It  is  cut  up  by  inlete 
and  the  numerous  islands  v«hich  line  it,  and  the  heavy  fogs  that  are  frequent  in  th* 
region,  render  it  at  all  times-  difficult  to  approach  or  to  navigate. 


THE  NATURAL  DIVISIONS  OF  OREGON.  • 

THK  THKBE  REGIONS.  I 

Oregon  ia  divided  inta  tlu-ee  distinct  regions,  by  three  separate  mountain  ranges,, 
with  an  additional  inferior  chain,  binding  the  extreme  outline  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

Overlooking  the  rim  upon  the  ocean  edge,  the  first  chain  we  come  to,  is  the 
Cascade  Mointains,  or  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  the  President's  Range.  They 
start  below  the  forty-second  parallel,  and  run,  on  a  line  with  the  coast  at  a  distance 
varying  from  100  to  150  miles  throughout  the  whole  length  of  the  territory ;  rising 
in  many  places  to  a  height  from  12,000  to  15,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  in 
separate  cones.  Their  succession  is  so  continuous,  as  to  almost  interrupt  the  com- 
munication between  the  sections,  except  where  the  two  great  rivers,  the  Columbia 
and  Fraser's,  force  a  passage  through ;  an  achievement  which  they  only  accomplish 
by  being  torn  into  foam,  plunged  down  precipices,  or  compressed  into  deep,  and 
dismal  gorges.  This  chain  of  mountains  have  obtained  the  title  of  the  President'e 
range,  in  consequence  of  their  most  elevated  peaks  having  been  named  after  the 
chief  magistrates  of  the  United  States,  by  a  patriotic  American  traveller. 

The  stupendous  line  runs  from  Mount  Jackson  to  Mount  Tyler,  and  there  is  yet 
room  among  their  gigantic  cousins,  for  several  succeeding  dignitaries.  The  idea 
which  suggested  their  adaptation  to  our  natural  history  was  a  happy  one.  Perpetual 
mementoes  in  the  archives  of  our  nation,  they  form  no  perishable  notes  of  heraldry 
for  the  contempt  of  a  succeeding  age,  but  basing  their  stupendous  data  upon  the 
eternal  earth,  pierce  with  their  awful  grandeur  the  region  of  the  clouds,  to  tran< 
scribe  their  records  on  the  face  of  heaven.  The  first  of  them.  Mount  Jackfion, 
commences  the  list,  in  41°  10' ;  Jefferson  stands  in  41*  30' ;  John  Quincy  Adama 
in  42®  10';  Madison  in  43"» ;  Monroe  in  43°  10';  Adams  in  4»<»;  Washington 
(the  Mount  St.  Helens  of  the  English)  in  46°  ;  Van  Buren,  north-west  of  Puget'e 
■ound,  in  48°  ;  Harrison,  east  of  the  same,  in  47 J,  and  Tyler  in  49°.  Of  these, 
Mount  Jackson  is  the  largest,  and  is  said  to  rise  above  the  level  of  the  sea  near  twenty 
thousand  feet.  Washington,  which  is  next  in  size,  is  estimated  at  17,000  to  18,000. 
This  is  the  most  beautiful  of  ail.  It  ascends  in  a  [wrfect  cone,  and  two-thirds  of  its 
height  is  covered  with  perpetual  snow.* 

The  region  of  country  lying  between  this  range  of  mountains  and  the  sea,  i» 
known  as  the  fir  it  or  lower  region  of  Oregon. 

The  Blue  moontains  form  the  next  division.  They  commence  nearly  in  the  centre 
of  Oregon,  on  parallel  of  longitude  43°  west  from  Washington,  and  in  46°  of  latitude. 

offer  of  the  Columbia  as  the  line  of  compromiie.   This,  while  it  secures  to  ber  every  navigable 
harbor,  does  not  leave  us  one. 

♦  The  limit  of  perpetual  snow  for  these  mountains  is^  acoerdipc  to  Lieutenaat  Willtes ,  6,600 
feetframthelevelofthesea.   ^ 


m 


Jf^ 


HISTORY  OF  OR^OOff^ 


37 


h, thongfe 
ly,  for  the 

course  of 
)endicular 

but  few 
It  latitude 

is  called 

Langley, 
8  much  of 
)  by  inlets 
lent  in  th« 


kin  ranges^ 
fie  coast. 
!  to,  is  the 
»ge.    They 

a  distance 
ory;  rising 
'  the  sea  in 
>t  the  com- 
t  Columbia 
accomplish 

deep,  and 
President'^ 
B  after  the 

lere  is  yet 

The  idea 

Perpetual 
>f  heraldry 

upon  the 
Is,  to  trau' 

JackRon, 
icy  Adams 
(''ashingtOR 
of  Puget's 

Of  these, 
lear  twenty 

to  18,000. 

lirds  of  its 

the  sea,  i» 

the  centre 
of  latitude. 

y  navigable 
i^ilke8,d,eOO 


They  run  southwesterly  from  this  point  for  200  miles  in  an  irregular  manner,  occa- 
sionally interrupted,  and  shooting  off  in  spurs  to  the  south  and  west. 

The  region  between  this  ridge  and  the  President's  range,  is  called  the  second  or 
middle  region. 

Beyond  the  Blue  mountains  and  lying  between  them  and  the  Rocky  mountains, 
is  the  high  country,  or  third  region  of  Oregon. 

The  general  course  of  the  Rocky  mountains  is  from  south  to  south  east.  They 
Tun  South  from  54<>  46',  parallel  to  the  coast  (at  a  distance  of  500  miles)  for  three  hun- 
dred miles,  and,  gradually  extend  their  distance  from  the  sea  by  a  continuous  south 
easterly  course  to  over  seven  hundred  at  the  40th  degree.  In  these  mountains,  and 
their  ofTsete,  rise  the  principal  rivers  which  find  their  way  into  the  Pacific  to  the  west, 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  east.  Near  the  forty-second  parallel  is  a  remarkable 
depression  in  the  chain,  called  "  the  Southern  Bass'"  which  experience  has  proved, 
affords  a  short  and  easy  reute  for  carriages  from  our  states,  into  the  territory  of 
Oregon.  Above  the  48th  parallel,  again,  other  passes  are  formed  by  the  course  of 
the  rivers,  from  either  side,  which  find  their  way  in  some  places  between  the  moun- 
tains. There  are  other  ridges  intersecting  the  face  of  this  vast  country,  but  they 
are  principally  offsets  or  spurs  of  the  three  main  chains  already  described.  The 
principal  of  these,  is  the  wind  river  clustw,  on  the  east  of  the  Rocky  mountains, 
from  which  flow  many  of  the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Yellow  Stone 
rivers. 

CLIMATE  AND  CflABACTEKieTICS  OS  THE  TtlBER  REOIONS. 

The  third  region  or  high  country,  is  a  rocky,  barren,  broken  country,  traversed  in 
all  directions  by  stupendous  mountain  spurs,  on  the  peaks  of  which,  snow  lies  nearly 
all  the  year.  It  is  from  two  to  three  thousand  feet  abova  the  leve4  of  the  sea,  and 
in  consequence,  the  rivers  flowing  through  it,  westward  to  the  Columbia,  are  broken 
at  frequent  intervals  by  the  rugged  descent,  and  rendered  unnavigable  almost 
throughout  the  whole  of  their  course.  There  are  but  few  arable  spots  in  this  whole 
section  of  territory,  its  level  plains,  except  narrow  strips  in  the  intmediate  vicinity 
of  the  rivers,  being  covered  with  sand  or  gravel,  and  being  also  generally  volcanic  in 
their  character.  The  distinguishing  features  of  the  territory  are  its  extreme  dry- 
ness, and  the  difference  ef  its  temperature  between  the  day  and  the  night.  It  sel- 
<({om  rains  except  during  a  few  days  in  the  spring,  and  no  moisture  is  deposited  in 
dews.  In  addition  to  these  discouraging  features,  the  climate,  from  its  enclosure 
between  these  snowy  barriers,  is  extremely  variable,  a  difference  of  fifty  and  sixty 
degrees  taking  place  between  sunrise  and  mid-day.  The  soil  is  moreover  much 
impregnated  with  salts,  springs  of  which  abound  in  rcoRy  places.  It  will  be  seen 
by  reference  to  the  journal  which  forms  the  latter  portion  of  this  work,  that  some  of 
these  possess  highly  medicinal  qualities,  and  from  the  beauty  of  their  situation,  will 
doubtless  become,  before  time  is  done,  the  resort  of  the  fashionable  population  of 
Western  America. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  unfavorable  qualities,  there  are  many  small  prairies 
within  its  mountains,  which,  from  their  production  of  a  nutritious  bunch  grass,  are 
well  adapted  for  grazing  purposes,  and  in  despite  of  its  changeable  climate,  stock  is 
founa  to  thrive  well,  and  to  endars  the  severity  of  the  winter  without  protection. 

The  second  or  Middle  Region  of  Oregon,  between  the  Blue  and  the  President  Ran- 
ges, is  less  elevated  than  the  third,  and  consequently  all  the  stern  extremities  of  the 
latter's  climate  and  soil,  are  proportionately  modified.  Its  mean  height  is  about  a 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  much  of  its  surface  is  a  rolling  prairie 
country,  with  the  exception  of  the  portion  above  latitude  48^,  which  is  very  much 
broken  by  rivers  and  traverse  mountain  chains.  It  is  consequently  adapted  only  in 
sections  to  farming  purposes.  Plenty  of  game,  however,  is  found  in  the  forests  of 
(he  country,  to  compensate  for  its  unfitness  for  agriculture.     Below  this  parallel,  and 


f 


ss 


HISTORT  or  ORKOOir. 


in  the  middle  of  the  section,  are  extensive  plains,  admirably  adapted  to  stock  raising, 
from  the  perpetual  verdure  always  overspreading  them,  and  from  the  salubrious  cli- 
mate that  prevails  throughout  their  neighborhood.  Cattle  thrive  even  better  here 
than  in  the  low  country,  and  there  is  no  necessity  for  housing  them  at  any  time ; 
neither  need  provender  be  laid  in,  the  natural  hay  found  always  in  abundance  on  the 
prairies,  being  preferred  by  them  to  the  fresh  grass  upon  the  bottoms.  It  is  in  this 
region  the  Indians  raise  their  immense  herds  of  horses,  and  here,  whenever  the 
territory  shall  be  numerously  settled,  may  be  bred  clouds  of  horsemen,  who  woold 
not  be  exceeded  by  any  light  cavalry  in  the  world. 

The  southern  portion  of  this  region  as  it  advances  to  the  boundary  line,  becomes 
less  favorable  to  the  purposes  of  man,  and  loses  its  fertility  by  rolling  into  swelling 
sand  hills,  producing  nothing  but  the  wild  wormwood,  ntixcd  with  prickly  pear^ 
and  a  sparse  sprinkling  of  short  bunch  grass. 

The  first  or  lower  Region  of  Oregon  is  that  which  lies  along  the  coast  and  extend* 
westward  to  the  line  of  the  President's  range  of  mountains.  The  portion  of  this 
lying  north  of  the  Columbia  and  between  it  and  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  is  a  heavily  tim- 
bered  country  covered  with  forests  of  trees,  of  extraordinary  sixe.  It  has,  however^ 
its  spaces  of  prairie  on  which  good  pasturage  is  found,  and  it  has  also  some  fine 
arable  land.  This  section  is  watered  by  four  rivers,  of  which,  the  Chickelis,  disem- 
bogueing  into  the  Columbia,  and  the  Cowolitz,  emptying  into  the  sea  at  Gray's 
harbor,  are  the  most  important.  The  forests  of  this  portion  of  the  lower  region  are 
its  great  feature.  They  consist  of  pines,  firs,  spruce,  red  and  white  oak,  ash,  arbu- 
tus, arbor  vitas,  cedar,  poplar,  maple,  willow,  cherry  and  yew,  with  so  close  and 
matted  an  undergrowth  of  hazel,  and  other  brambles,  a  j  to  render  them  almost  im- 
penetrable to  the  foot  of  roan.  Most  of  the  trees  are  of  an  enormous  bulk,  and  thej 
are  studded  so  thick,  that  they  rise  before  the  beholder  like  a  stupendous  and  im- 
pregnable solidity,  which  decla  es  falile  all  ordinary  attempts  to  penetrate  it.  This 
astonishing  exuberance  is  not  confined  alone  to  the  timber  of  the  section  north  of 
the  Columbia,  for  we  have  an  account  of  a  fir  growing  at  Astoria,  eight  miles  from 
the  ocean,  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Columbia,  which  measured  forty-six  feet  in 
circumference  at  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  ascended  one  hundred  and  fifty-three 
feet  before  giving  off  a  branch,  and  vras  three  hundred  feet  in  its  whole  height. 
Another  tree  of  the  same  species,  is  said  to  be  standing  on  the  Umpqua,  the  trunK 
of  which  is  fifty-seven  feet  in  circumference,  and  two  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  in 
length  below  its  branches.  Prime  sound  pines,  from  two  hundred,  to  two  hundred 
and  eighty  feet  in  height,  and  from  twenty  to  forty  in  circumference,  are  by  no  means 
uncommon.  The  value  of  this  spontaneous  wealth  has  already  been  appreciated  by 
the  acute  company  who  reign  commercially  predominant  in  this  region,  for  already 
their  untiring  saw  mills,  plied  by  gangs  of  Sandwich  Ishinders  and  servile  Iroquois, 
cut  daily  at  Fort  Vancouver  alone,  thousands  of  feet  of  plank,  which  are  transported 
regularly  to  the  markets  of  the  Pacific  Islands. 

But  to  return  to  that  section  of  the  lower  region  lying  between  the  Columbia  and 
the  Straits  of  Fuca.  The  banks  of  the  Cowelitz  are  generally  bare  of  timber,  but 
the  soil  in  their  immediate  vicinity  is  for  the  most  part  poor.  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  however,  have  a  fine  farm  of  600  acres  in  its  western  valley,  which  ia 
1841  produced  7000  bushels  of  wheat.  The  average  produce  is  twenty  bushels  to 
the  acre.  They  have  also  a  saw  and  grist  mill  now  in  operation  there,  both 
of  which  find  a  market  for  their  products  in  the  Sandwich  and  other  islands  of 
Polynesia.  Live  stock  do  not  succeed  well  on  these  farms,  and  this  is  owing  to 
the  absence  of  low  prairie  grounds  near  the  river,  and  also  to  the  extensive 
depredations  of  the  wolves.  The  hilly  portion  of  the  country  immediately  around, 
though  its  soil  is  very  good,  is  too  heavily  timbered  to  be  available  for  agricultural 
purposes,  and  this  is  also  the  case  with  many  portions  of  the  level  land.  There  are, 
however,  large  tracts  of  fine  prairie  at  intervals  between,  suitable  for  cultivation, 
and  ready  for  the  plough. 


'^ 


HISTORY  or  OREGOIT. 


39 


Proceeding  northward,  we  came  to  Fort  Naaqually,  a  fine  harbor  at  the  southern 
point  of  Puget'a  Sound.  Here  the  Hudson's  Bay  Compnny  have  another  fine 
settlement,  and  raise  wheat,  (15  bushels  to  the  acre,)  oats,  peaa,  potatoes,  and  make 
butter  for  the  Russian  settlements.  On  the  islands  of  the  sound  and  on  the  upper 
sections  of  Admiralty  Inlet,  the  Indians  cultivate  potatoes  in  great  abundance. 
These  vegetables  are  extremely  fine,  and  constitute  a  large  portion  of  their  food. 

Having  disposed  of  this  section,  we  come  now  to  that  portion  of  the  lower  region 
lying  south  of  the  Columbia,  between  the  President's  range  and  the  coast.  This 
by  universal  agreement  is  admitted  to  be  the  finest  portion  of  all  Oregon.  It 
is  entered  by  the  Wallamette  river,  about  five  miles  below  Vancouver,  which  stream 
extends  into  its  bosom  over  two  hundred  miles.  This  river  is  navigable  for 
steamboats  and  vessels  of  light  draught  for  nearly  forty  miles,  when  you  come  to  a 
falls — the  invariable  feature  of  the  rivers  of  this  territory.  Above  the  falls  are 
the  principal  settlements  of  Oregon.  Here  the  American  adventurers  have  princi- 
pally established  themselves,  and  by  the  contributions  of  the  emigrations  from  the 
States  their  number  is  rapidly  increasing.  As  these  settlements  are  described  with 
some  particularity  in  the  journal  which  concludes  this  work,  we  will  omit  a  particular 
account  of  them  in  this  place. 

The  fertile  portion  of  the  valley  of  the  Willamette  is  about  two  hundred  apd  fifty 
miles  long,  and  averages  about  seventy  in  width,  making  hi  all  a  surface  of  more  than 
17,000  square  miles  of  rich  arable  land.  The  soil  is  an  unctuous,  heavy,  black  loam, 
which  yields  to  the  producer  a  ready  and  profuse  return  for  the  slightest  outlay  of  his 
labor.  The  climate  is  mild  throughout  the  year,  but  the  summer  is  warm  and  very 
dry.  From  April  to  October,  while  (he  sea  breezes  prevail,  rain  seldom  falls  in  any 
part  of  Oregon.  During  the  other  months,  and  while  the  south  winds  blow,  the 
the  rains  are  frequent,  and  at  times  abundant. 

In  the  valleys  of  the  low  country,  snow  is  seldom  seen,  and  the  ground  is  so  rarely 
frozen,  that  ploughing  may  generally  be  carried  on  the  whole  winter.  In  1634,  the 
Oolumbia  was  frozen  over  for  thirteen  days,  but  this  was  principally  attributable  to  the 
accumulation  of  ice  from  above.  "  This  country,"  says  Wyeth,  "  is  well  calculated 
for  wheat,  barley,  oats,  rye,  peas,  apples,  potatoes  and  dl  the  vegetables  cultivated 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  Union.  Indian  corn  does  not  succeed  well,  and  is  an 
unprofitable  crop." 

The  following  letter,  recently  received  from  Oregon,  and  giving  an  account  of  last 
year's  crop,  will  serve  to  show  the  wonderful  productiveness  of  this  delightfufi 
region :  * 

"  The  harvest  is  just  at  hand,  and  such  crops  of  wheat,  barley,  oats,  peas  and 
potatoes,  are  seldom,  if  ever  to  be  seen  in  the  States,  that  of  wheat  in  particular — the 
stalks  being  in  many  instances  as  high  as  my  head,  lite  grains  generally  much  larger 
— 1  would  not  much  exaggerate  to  say  they  are  as  large  again  as  tliose  grown  east 
of  the  mountains.  The  soil  is  good,  and  the  climate  most  superior,  being  mild  the 
year  round,  and  very  healthy,  more  so  than  any  country  I  have  lived  in  the  same 
length  of  time.  Produce  bears  an  excellent  price — pork,  10  cents;  beef,  6 cents; 
potatoes,  50  cents;  wheat,  $1  per  bushel.  These  articles  are  purchased  at  the 
above  prices  with  great  avidity  by  the  merchants  for  shipment  generally  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  and  Russian  settlements  on  this  continent,  and  are  paid  for  mostly  in 
stores  and  groceries,  the  latter  of  which  is  the  product  of  these  islands,  particularly 
sugar  and  cotTee,  of  which  abundant  supplies  are  furnished.  Wages  for  laborers 
arc  high— common  hands  are  getting  from  one  to  two  dollars  per  day,  and  mechanics 
from  two  to  four  dollars  pe<-  day.  It  is  with  difficulty  men  can  be  procured  at  these 
pees,  so  easily  can  they  do  better  on  their  farms.  The  plains  are  a  perpetual 
meadow,  furnishing  two  complete  new  crops  in  a  year,  spring  and  fall,  the  latter 
remaining  green  through  the  winter.  Beef  is  killed  from  the  grass  at  any  season 
of  the  year.  If  you  have  any  enterprize  left,  or  if  your  neighbors  have  any,  here  is 
the  place  for  them." 

*  The  above  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  General  McCarvcr,  who  is  at  present  the  Speaker 
of  the  Lower  House  of  Oregon. 


40 


HISTORY  OF  OREOOir. 


■  »^f. 


or  this  vaWcy  Lieutenant  Wilkes  lays,  <'  the  wheat  yields  thirty-five  or  forty- 
bushels  for  one  bushel  sown  ;  or  from  twenty  to  thirty  to  the  acre.  Its  quality  is- 
iuperiar  to  that  grown  in  the  United  States,  and  its  weight  is  nearly  four  pounds  to 
the  buslicl  heavier.  The  above  is  the  yield  of  the  new  land ;  but  it  is  believed  it 
will  greatly  exceed  this  after  the  third  crop,  when  the  land  has  been  broken  up  and 
well  tilled.  In|coniparison  to  our  own  country,  I  would  say  that  the  labor  necessary 
to  acquire  wealth  or  subsistence,  is  in  proportion  of  one  to  throe ;  or,  in  other  wards, 
a  man  must  work  through  the  year,  three  times  as  much  in  the  United  States,  to  gain 
the  same  competency.  The  care  of  stock,  which  occupies  so  nMich  time  with  ui, 
requires  no  attention  here,  and  on  the  increase  alone,  a  man  might  find  support." 

So>ith  of  the  valley  of  the  Willamette  we  come  to  that  of  the  Umpqua,  in  which 
is  found  large  prairies  of  unsurpassable  arable  land,  though  the  vicinage  of  the 
river  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  gigantic  pine  timber.  Some  idea  of  the  cxtraor- 
dinary  size  of  its  forest  trees  may  be  obtained  from  the  fact,  that  their  seed  cone» 
are  sometimes  more  than  a  foot  in  length.  Below  the  Umpqua,  we  next  arrive  at 
the  country  watered  by  the  Tootootutna,  or  Rouges  River,  and  beyond  that,  to  the 
voluptuous  valley  of  the  Klamet.  These  lower  portions  of  the  first  region  are 
thought  by  many  to  be  the  paradise  of  the  whole  territory,  excelling  in  richness  of 
■oil  and  voluptuousness  of  climate,  even  the  celebrated  valley  of  the  Willamette. 
Of  this  opinion  is  Lieutenant  Wilkes,  to  whose  exertions  and  researches  we  are  in~ 
debted  for  most  of  our  accurate  geographical  knowledge  of  the  western  portion  of 
Oregon.  Indeed,  probability  seems  to  be  in  favor  of  regarding  the  vallies  of  the 
Klamet,  Tootootutna,  and  the  Umpqua,  as  the  gardens  of  the  west,  and  the  cause 
of  the  preference  of  the  northern  portions  is  to  be  attributed  mostly  to  t^e  readier 
access  afforded  to  them  by  the  avenue  of  the  Columbia.  Population,  however,  i» 
already  gradually  encroaching  further  and  further  south,  and  but  few  years  will 
elapse,  before  coasters  will  be  running  down  to  the  mouths  of  these  three  rivers  for 
their  agricultural  products. 

The  principal  settlement  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  is  situated  at  Vancouver, 
on  the  Columbia ;  a  point  ninety  miles  from  its  mouth.  At  this  st^tion^  the  main 
branch  of  foreign  commerce  i»  carried  on,  and  from  it,  the  chief  exports  in  the  way 
of  pine  plank,  the  grains,  butter,  dec,  is  made  to  the  Russian  settlements,  and  to- 
the  islands  of  the  ocean.  They  have  another  farm  upon  the  Fallatry  plains,  west 
of  the  Willamette  and  about  ten  miles  from  Vancouver,  which  is  also  well  stocked, 
and  in  productive  cultivation. 

Before  concluding  our  description  of  this  portion  of  Oregon,  it  may  be  well  ta- 
state,  that  the  continual  influx  of  emigrants  from  the  States  at  the  station  of  the 
Willamette,  and  the  occasional  conflictions  of  interest,  rendered  it  necessary,  in  the 
absence  of  protection  from  the  laws  of  the  Republic,  that  the  American  settlers 
should  establish  a  territorial  guvernment  for  themselves.  They  have  accordingly 
proceeded  to  constitute  two  Legislatrve  bodies,  to  appoint  a  Chief  Justice,  and 
make  the  necessary  ministerial  officers  to  enforce  his  decisions. 

The  two  houses  meet  at  stated  periods  in  the  year  for  the  transaction  of 
all  the  necessary  business  of  the  little  body  politic,  and  the  degree  of  importance 
which  the  new  legislature  has  already  obtained,  may  be  estimated  by  the  fact  that 
the  ofircers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  have  accorded  their  acknowledgement 
of  its  powers,  by  applying  through  the  chief  governor  of  all  the  stations  in  the  terri- 
tory, (Doctor  McLaughlin)  for  a  charter  for  a  canal  around  the  Willamette  Fall*. 
The  exclusive  right  was  granted  to  him  for  twenty  years,  on  the  condition  that  he 
should,  in  two  years,  construct  a  canal  around  them  sufRcient  for  the  passage  of 
boats  thirteen  feet  in  width. 

This  recognition  of  the  authority  ef  the  legislative  confederacy  would,  however, 
be  a  politic  course  in  the  resident  governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  even 
though  he  should  bo  ever  so  averse  to  it ;  for  such  recognition  would  not  affect  the 
interests  of  his  association  in  case  it  were  overthrown  by  bis  own  government,  ant} 


ti.     » 


HISTORY   OF   OREQON. 


41 


it  would  aflbrd  him,  meanwhile,  an  opportunity  for  'he  quiet  pursuit  of  hii  plans. 
It  is  but  just,  however,  to  bear  in  mind  that  tho  jurisdiction  exercised  by  the  com- 
pany over  all  the  citizens  in  the  territory,  previous  to  this  legislative  convention, 
was  not  their  own  &nop?''-"\,  but  the  investiture  of  the  British  Government,  for  its 
own  special  objects ,  u..a  ic  is  no  less  just  to  say,  that  this  power  was  exercised  by 
the  gentleman  above-named,  during  his  rule,  with  a  temperance  and  fairness,  but 
seldom  found  in  thoso  who  have  no  immediate  superior  to  account  to. 

The  letter  that  brings  us  this  latter  information,  also  tells  us  the  Doctor  hat 
already  commenced  his  work  with  a  large  number  of  hands,  and  that  there  is  no 
doubt  of  his  perfect  ability  to  complete  it  within  the  time  named.  He  was  likewise 
constructing  at  tho  date  of  this  information,  (last  August)  a  large  flouring  mill  with 
four  run  of  burs,  which  was  to  be  ready  for  business  last  fall. 

THE  RIVBKS.  ' 


Having  completed  a  description  of  the  general  characteristics  of  the  three  region* 
of  Oregon,  there  remains  but  ono  feature  of  its  geography  unfinished  ;  and  as  that 
extends  for  the  most  part  continuously  from  region  to  region,  it  could  not  be  pro- 
perly embraced  in  the  particular  account  of  any  one.    We  allude  to  the  courie  and  ' 
characteristics  of  the  Columbia  river  and  its  tributaries. 

The  northern  branch  of  the  Columbia  river  rises  in  latitude  60^  north,  and  116' 
west  (from  Greenwich)' thence  it  pursues  a  northern  routo  to  McGillivary's  pass  in 
the  Rocky  mountains.  There  it  meets  the  Canoe  river,  and  by  that  tributary 
ascends  north  westerly  for  eighty  miles  more.  At  the  boat  encampment  at  the 
pass,  another  stream  also  joins  it  through  the  mountains,  and  here  the  Columbia  is 
3,600  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  now  turns  south,  having  some  obstruc- 
tions to  its  safe  navigation  in  the  way  of  rapids,  receiving  many  tributaries  in  its 
course  to  Colville,  among  which  the  Beaver,  Salmon,  Flatbow,  and  Clarke's  rivers 
from  the  east,  and  the  Colville  and  two  smaller  tributaries,  higher  up,  from  the  west, 
are  the  chief. 

This  great  river  is  bounded  thus  far  on  its  course,  by  a  range  of  high,  well  wooded 
mountains,  and  in  places  expands  into  a  line  of  lakes  before  it  reaches  Colville, 
where  ic  is  2,049  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  having  a  fall  «f  550  feet  in  230 
miles. 

Fort  Colville  stands  in  a  plain  of  2000  or  3000  acres.  There  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  have  a  considerable  settlement  and  a  farm  under  cultivation,  producing 
from  3000  to  4000  bushels  of  different  grains,  with  which  many  of  their  « ther  forts 
are  supplied.  On  Clarke's  rirer  the  company  have  another  post  called  Flathead 
House,  situated  in  a  rich  and  beautiful  country  spreading  westward  to  the  bases 
of  the  Rocky  mountains.  On  the  Flatbow  also,  the  company  have  a  post,  named 
Fort  Kootanie. 

From  Fort  Colville  the  Columbia  trends  westward  for  about  sixty  miles,  and  then 
receives  the  Spokan,  from  the  south.  This  river  rises  in  the  lake  of  the  Pointed 
Hetirt,  which  lies  in  the  bosom  of  extensive  plains  of  tho  same  name.  It  pursues 
a  north  westerly  course  for  about  200  miles,  and  then  empties  into  the  Columbia. 
Its  valley,  according  to  Mr.  Spaiilding,  an  American  Missionary  who  surveyed  it, 
may  be  extensively  used  as  a  grazing  district ;  but  its  agricultural  capabilities  are 
limited.  The  chief  features  of  its  region  are,  (like  those  of  the  upper  country, 
through  which  we  have  already  traced  the  Columbia  and  its  tributaries,)  extensive 
forests  of  timber  and  wide  sandy  plains  intersected  by  bold  and  high  mountains. 

From  the  Spokan,  the  Columbia  continues  its  westerly  course  for  sixty  miles,  re- 
cplving  several  smaller  streams,  until  it  comes  to  the  Okanagan,  a  river  finding  its 
source  in  a  line  of  lakes  to  the  north,  and  affording  boat  and  canoe  navigation  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  up  its  course.  On  the  east  side  of  this  river,  and  near  its  junction 
with   the  Columbia,  the  Company  have  another   station  called  Fort   Okanagan. 


48 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON.    ] 


^ 


Though  the  country  bordering  on  the  Okanagin  ii  generally  worthleia,  this  settle- 
nent  is  situated  among  a  number  of  small,  but  rich  arable  plains. 

After  passing  the  Okanagan,  the  Columbia  takes  a  southward  turn  and  runs  in  that 
direction  for  160  miles  to  Wallawalla,  receiving  irt  its  course  the  Piscous,  th« 
Ekama  and  Entyatecoom,  from  the  west,  and  lastly,  the  Saptin  or  Lewis  River, 
from  the  south.  From  this  point  the  part  of  the  Columbia  which  wo  have  traced, 
though  obstructed  by  rapids,  is  navigable  for  canoes  to  the  Boat  Encampment,  a  di8> 
tance  of  600  miles  to  the  north.  The  Saptin  takes  its  rise  in  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
passes  through  the  Blue,  and  reaches  the  Columbia  after  having  pursued  a  north- 
westerly  direction  for  620  miles.  It  brings  a  large  volume  of  water  to  the  latter 
stream,  but  in  consequence  of  its  extensive  and  numerous  rapids,  it  is  not  navigable 
even  for  canoes  except  in  reaches.  This  circumstance  is  to  be  deplored,  as  its  course 
is  the  line  of  route  for  the  emigration  of  the  States.  It  receives  a  largo  number  of 
tributaries,  of  which  the  Kooskooske  and  Salmon  are  the  chief.  Our  previouH  ac- 
count of  the  arid  and  volcanic  character  of  this  region  obviates  the  necessity  of  % 
farther  description  here.  There  is  a  trading  station  upon  the  Saptin  near  the  south- 
ern boundary  line,  called  Fort  Hall,  and  one  also  near  its  junction  with  the  Colum- 
bia, called  Fort  Wallawalla.  The  Columbia  at  Wallawalla  is  1284  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  about  3,500  feet  wide.  It  now  takes  its  last  turn  to  the  west- 
ward, pursuing  a  rapid  course  of  80  miles  to  the  Cascades,  and  receiving  the  Uma- 
tilla, Quisnel's,  John  Day's  and  Chute  Rivers  from  the  south,  and  Cathlatate's  from 
the  north.  At  the  Cascades,  the  navigation  of  the  river  is  interrupted  by  a  series 
of  falls  and  rapids,  caused  by  the  immense  volume  forcing  its  way  through  the  gorge 
of  the  President's  range.  From  the  Cascades,  there  is  still-water  navigation  for  ferty 
miles,  when  the  river  is  again  obstructed  by  rapids ;  after  passing  these,  it  is  navi- 
gable for  120  miles  to  the  ocean.  The  only  other  great  independent  river  in  the 
territory  is  the  Tacoutche  or  Frazer's  River.  It  takes  its  rise  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains near  the  source  of  Canoe  River ;  thence  it  takes  a  north-westerly  course  for 
80  miles,  when  it  makes  a  turn  southward,  receiving  Stuart's  river,  which  brings 
down  its  waters  from  a  chain  of  lakes  extending  to  the  56th  degree  of  latitude. 
Turning  down  from  Stuart's  River,  the  Tacoutche  pursues  a  southerly  course  until 
it  reaches  latitude  49^,  where  it  breaks  through  the  Cascade  range  in  a  successioa 
of  falls  and  rapids,  then  turns  to  the  west,  and  after  a  course  of  70  miles  more,  dis- 
embogues into  the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  on  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  in  latitude  47"  07 '.  Its 
whole  length  is  350  miles,  but  it  is  only  navigable  for  70  miles  from  its  mouth,  by 
vessels  drawing  twelve  feet  water.  It  has  three  trading  posts  upon  it  belonging  to 
the  company  ;  Fort  Langley  at  its  mouth ;  Fort  Alexandria  at  the  junction  of  a  small 
stream  a  few  miles  south  of  QuisnelPs  River,  and  another  at  the  junction  of  Stuart's 
River.  The  country  drained  by  this  river  is  poor  and  generally  unfit  for  cultivation. 
The  climate  is  extreme  in  its  variatiops  of  heat  and  cold,  and  in  the  fall  months, 
dense  fogs  prevail  which  bar  every  object  from  the  eye  beyond  the  distance  of  a 
hundred  yards.  The  chief  features  of  the  section  are  extensive  forests,  transverse 
ranges  of  low  countries,  and  vast  tracts  of  marshes  and  lakes,  formed  by  the  streams 
descending  from  the  surrounding  heights. 

*'  The  character  of  the  great  rivers  is  peculiar— rapid  and  sunken  much  below  the 
level  of  the  country,  with  perpendicular  banks,  they  run  as  it  were  intrenches,  which 
make  it  extremely  difficult  to  get  at  the  water  in  many  places,  owing  to  their  steep 
basaltic  walls.  They  are  at  many  points  contracted  by  dalles,  or  narrows,  which  dur- 
ing the  rise,  back  the  water  some  distance,  submerging  islands  and  tracts  of  low 
prairie,  and  giving  them  the  appearance  of  extensive  lakes. 

"  The  soil  along  the  river  bottoms  is  generally  alluvial,  and  would  yield  good  crops, 
were  it  not  for  the  overflowing  of  the  livers  which  check  %nd  kill  the  grain.  Some 
of  the  finest  portions  of  the  land  are  thus  unfitted  for  cultivation.  They  are  gener- 
ally covered  with  water  before  the  banks  are  overflown,  m  conseiiuence  of  the 
quicksands  that  exist  in  them,  and  through  which  the  water  percolates." 


141    ^ 


HISTORY   OF  OREGON. 


43 


"  The  riie  of  the  atresmi  flowing  from  the  Caicaflc  mountain!  takoi  place  twice  a 
year,  in  February  and  November,  and  are  produced  by  heavy  and  abundant  raina. 
The  riie  of  the  Columbia  takea  place  in  May  and  Juno,  and  is  attributable  to  the 
melting  of  the  anowa.  Sometimea  the  awoll  of  the  latter  ia  very  audden,  if  heavy 
rains  should  also  happen  at  that  period,  but  it  ia  generally  gradual  and  reachea  its 
greatest  height  from  the  6th  to  the  IRth  of  June.  Its  perpendicular  rise  is  frem  18 
to  20  foet  at  Vancouver,  where  a  line  of  embankment  has  been  thrown  up  to  protect 
the  lower  prairie ;  but,  it  has  generally  been  flooded  during  these  visitations,  and  the 
crops  often  destroyed. 

"The  greatest  rise  of  the  Willamette  takes  place  in  February,  and  sometimes  as- 
cending to  the  height  of  20  feet,  does  considerable  damage.  Both  this  river  and  the 
Oowelitz,  are  much  swollen  by  the  backing  of  their  waters  during  the  height  of  the 
Columbia,  all  their  lower  grounds  being  at  such  times  submerged.  This  puts  an  ef- 
fectual bar  to  the  border  prairies  being  used  for  anything  but  pasturage.  This  hap- 
pily  ia  fine  throughout  the  year,  except  in  the  season  of  floods,  when  the  cattle  must 
be  driven  to  the  high  grounds." 

The  lakes  of  Oregon  are  numerous  and  well  distributed  in  the  different  regions 
of  the  territory.  In  the  northern  section,  the  Okanegan,  (from  which  flows  the 
river  of  that  name),  Stuart's  and  Frazer's,  near  the  upper  boundary  ;  Quesnell's  in 
S3°,  and  Klamloop's  ir  61^,  aro  the  largest.  In  the  central  section,  we  have  the 
Flatbow,  the  Cour  d'Al^ne,  or,  "  Pointed  Heart,"  and  the  KuUespelm  ;  and  in  the 
southern  district,  are  the  Klamet,  the  Pit,  and  an  abundance  of  inferior  lakes,  as  yet 
unnoticed  on  the  maps,  and  for  which  geographers  have  not  yet  been  able  to  dis- 
cover names.  Several  of  the  latter,  are  salt,  and,  at  intervals,  we  find  chains  of  hot 
springs  bubbling  in  some  places  above  the  ground,  like  those  of  Iceland.  The 
smaller  lakes  are  said  to  add  much  to  the  picturesque  beauty  of  the  streams. 

The  whole  territory  is  well  watered  in  all  directions,  and  from  the  peculiar  cha- 
racter of  its  rivers,  their  descent,  the  rapidity  of  their  currents,  and  their  frequent 
falls,  there  is  perhaps  no  country  in  the  world  which  affords  so  many  facilities  for 
manufacturing  purposes,  through  the  agency  of  water  power.  .This  is  a  peculiarly 
happy  circumstance,  when  taken  into  consideration  with  the  fact,  that  the  timber 
overspreading  the  weastern  portion  and  clustering  around  its  mill  sites,  will,  for  a 
long  time,  form  one  of  the  principal  exports  in  the  markets  of  the  Pacific.  This  wilF 
appear  from  the  high  prices  which  it  now  commands,  and  also,  from  the  fact,  that  no 
other  portion  of  the  north  west  coast  produces  it.  Already,  trading  vessels  resort 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  to  supply  themselves  with  spars,  and  other  necessary 
materials,  and  the  improving  facilities  of  inland  intercommunication,  has  directed 
some  of  it  from  point  to  point  within  the  territory. 

Having  now  completed  our  account  of  the  great  physical  characteristics  of  Oregon, 
our  attention  naturally  turns  to  those  portions  of  its  natural  history  which  are  equally 
necessary  to  render  a  land  serviceable  to  the  wants  of  man.  Of  these,  the  first,  and 
most  important,  are  the  fisheries.  "  These,"  says  Lieutenant  Wilkes,  "  are  so  im- 
mense, that  the  whole  native  population  subsist  on  them."  All  the  rivers,  bays, 
harbors  and  shores  of  the  i  ast  and  islands,  abound  in  salmon,  sturgeon,  cod,  carp, 
sole,  flounders,  ray,  perch,  kerring,  lamprey  eels,  and  a  kind  of  smelt  or  sardine, 
which  is  extremely  abundant.  The  different  kinds  predominate  alternately,  accord- 
ing to  the  situations  of  the  respective  fisheries,  but  the  salmon  abound  everywhere 
over  all.  This  superior  fish  is  found  in  the  largest  quantities  in  the  Columbia,  and 
the  finest  of  them  are  taken  at  the  Dalles.  They  run  twice  a  year,  May  and  Octo- 
ber, and  appear  inexhaustible.  To  so  great  an  extent  is  traffic  in  them  already  ad- 
vanced, that  the  establishmet  at  Vancouver  alone,  exports  ten  thousand  barrels  of 
them  annually.  There  are  also  large  quantities  of  oysters,  clams,  crabs,  mussels 
and  other  kinds  of  shell  fish,  found  in  the  different  bays  and  creeks  of  the  country ; 
and,  to  complete  this  piscatory  feature,  we  are  further. told,  that  whales  are  also 


n 


HISTORY   or  OREOOK. 


t 


m 


found  in  numbers  a\ong  the  coait  nnd  nt  the  mouth  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  where 
thoy  aro  frequently  captured  by  the  pitcivoroua  aborigine*. 

Of  game,  an  equal  abundance  exiats,  In  tho  ipring  and  fall,  the  riven  literally 
■warm  with  goeao,  duck,  cranoi,  iwani,  and  other  ipociee  of  water-fowl ;  and  the 
elk,  deer,  antelope,  bear,  wolf,  fox,  martin,  bearer,  muikrat,  grizzly  bbar  and  aif- 
flcur  make,  with  them,  the  harvoit  of  the  hunter's  rifle.  In  the  middle  section,  little 
or  no  game  is  to  bo  found,  but  in  tho  third  region,  the  buffalo  aro  plenty,  and  form 
an  attraction  to  numerous  hunting  partiea  of  the  Blackfoot  and  Oregon  Indians. 

The  population  of  Oregon  territory  has  been  estimated  by  Lieutenant  Wilkes,  to 
be  about  20,000,  of  whom  19,200  or  300  are  aborigines,  and  the  remaining  seven 
or  eight  hundred,  whites.  This  number,  and  its  pioportions,  have,  however,  in- 
creased nnd  varied  considerably  since  the  timo  of  his  estimate.  The  years  succeed- 
ing his  visit,  beheld  large  emigrations  from  the  States,  and  the  white  population 
of  Oregon  may  now  be  safely  set  down  as  being  between  two  and  three  thousand, 
of  whom  the  majority  are  from  the  States.  The  largest  portion  of  these  are  locat- 
ed in  tho  valley  of  the  Willamette,  where,  as  wo  havo  already  seen,  they  have 
adopted  a  government  of  their  own.  The  other  white  inhabitants  are  sprinkled 
about  in  different  portions  of  the  territory,  at  the  establishments  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  whose  ofTicers  and  servants  amount,  in  all,  to  between  five  and 
aix  hundred,  but  this  number  does  not  include  their  Iroquois  and  Sandwich  Island 
serfs. 

There  are  no  means  of  ascertaining  with  accuracy  the  numbers  of  the  aboriginal 
population,  as  many  of  them  move  from  place  to  placo  in  the  fishing  seasons ;  but, 
for  tho  purpose  of  furnishing  thu  reader  with  the  nearest  warrant  for  reliance,  we 
will  hero  insert  a  tabular  statement,  prepared  by  Mr.  Crawford,  of  the  Indian  de- 
partment, for  the  uso  of  last  Congress. 

Indians  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  the  Oregon  district,  and  their  numbers. 


Nes  Percda 

Ponderas 

Flatheads 800 

Cour  D' Alene 

Shoshonies 1,800 

Gallapooahs 

Umba-juahs 

Kiyuse 

Spokeua 

Oknanagans 

Cootomies 

Chilts 800 

Chinookes 400 

Snakes 1,000 

Calhlamahs 200 

Wahkiakumes BllO 

Skillutes 2,500 


Sokulks 8,000 

Chimnapuns 9,000 

Shallatlos 200 

Speannaros  240 

Saddala 400 

Wallawallahs    2,G00 

Chopunniaheea 3,000 

Catlashoots 4R0 

Pohahs 1,000 

Willewahs 1,000 

Sinacaops 200 

Chiliokittequaws 2,400 

Echebools 1 ,000 

Wahupume 1,000 

Euesteurs 1 ,200 

Clackamurs 1,800 

Chanwappans 400 


29,fiT0 


The  most  numerous  and  warlike  of  the  Oregon  Indians  are  in  the  islands  to  the 
north,  but  on  the  main  land,  they  are  generally  friendly  and  well  disposed.  They 
are,  however,  rapidly  passing  away  before  the  advancing  destiny  of  a  superior  raoe, 
and  with  the  wild  game,  vanish  gradually  from  the  white  man's  tracks.  Those  re- 
maining, are  a  servile  and  degraded  class,  who  perform  the  meanest  offices  of  the 
settlements,  and  readily  consent  to  a  mode  of  existence  under  the  missionaries,  and 
other  settlers,  but  little  short  of  vassalage.  In  the  Wallamette  valley,  there  are  nnvr 
left  but  a  few  remnants  of  the  once  numerous  and  powerful  tribes  that  formerly  in- 
habited it.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  there  are  some  few  of  the  Chenooks 
still  left,  and  about  the  Cascades  and  at  the  Dalles  still  linger  considerable  numbers 


HIITORY   or  OREGON. 


4d 


of  thli  ill-fated  and  tntt  foding  people.  There  ii  no  longer  tny  eplrit  left  in  them  ; 
their  hetrte  are  broken,  their  bowa  unatrung,  and  from  lorda  of  the  auil,  they 
have  aunk  to  the  digradation  of  ita  alavei. 

The  Kiuaea  anJ  Nea  Porcna,  atill  maintain  a  portion  of  their  independenre,  but 
numbera  of  them,  through  the  exertiona  of  the  mistionariei,  have  made  considerable 
•dvancee  in  civiliaation,  and  many  more  would  doubtloaa  adapt  themaalvct  »o  a  more 
methodical  tyatem  of  life,  wore  not  tho  first  Iciaona  of  the  science  an  exHction  of 
their  labora  for  tho  benefit  of  otheri.  At  the  pretent,  they  can  only  be  regarded 
in  the  light  of  a  iorvilo  population,  which,  in  the  existing  dearth  of  labor,  i«  render- 
ed of  vast  service  to  the  active  eettler.  In  speaking  of  the  influences  of  tho  mil- 
aionaries  over  the  Indians,  Lieutenant  Wilkes  remarka  :  "  They  have  done  but  lit- 
tle towarda  Chriatianizing  the  nativea,  being  principally  engaged  in  cultivating  the 
mission  farms  and  in  the  increaae  of  their  own  flocks  and  herda.  As  far  aj  my 
personal  observation  went,  there  are  very  few  Indians  to  engage  their  attention, 
and  they  seemed  moro  occupied  with  the  aettlement  of  the  country  and  agricultural 
pursuits  than  in  missionary  labors." 

The  treatment  of  the  Indians  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  is  politic  and  ju- 
dicioua  ;  they  rigidly  enforce  that  wise  provision  of  their  charter,  which  forbids  the 
•ale  of  ardent  spirits,  and  in  carrying  it  out,  have  even  been  known,  upon  the  ar- 
riral  of  a  vessel  at  the  Columbia  with  apirita  aboard,  to  purchase  that  portion  of 
the  cargo,  to  prevent  others  from  defeating  the  wisdom  of  the  prohibition.  Schools 
for  the  native  children  are  attached  to  all  the  principal  trading  posts,  and  particular 
care  is  extended  to  the  education  of  the  half  breed  children,*  the  joint  offspring  of 
the  tradera  and  the  Indian  women,  who  are  retained  and  bred,  as  far  as  possible, 
among  the  whites,  and  subsequently  employed,  when  found  capable,  in  tho  service 
of  the  company.  The  policy  of  this  course  is  obvious.  The  savage  is  gradually 
cured  of  his  distrust,  and  coaxed  into  new  connections.  He  abandons  the  use  of 
hia  bows,  his  arrows  and  nil  his  former  arms,  and  the  result  is,  that  he  soon  becomes 
an  absolute  dependant  upon  those  who  furnish  him  his  guns,  ammunition,  fiah-hooka, 
blankets,  &c. 

The  course  obsrved  by  this  Company  to  American  settlers,  is  equally  politic. 
They  are  received  with  kindness,  and  aided  in  the  prosecution  of  their  objecta  to 
long  as  these  objects  are  only  agricultural ;  but  no  sooner  does  any  of  them  attempt 
to  hunt,  trap  or  trade  with  the  natives,  then  all  the  force  of  the  body  is  immediately 
directed  towards  them.  "  A  worthy  missionary,  now  established  on  the  Columbia," 
says  GreThow,  "  while  acknowledging  in  conversation  with  me,  the  many  acta  of 
kindnes'.  Tec<>ived  by  him  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company'  i  agents,  at  the  same 
timedecla.->d — that  the  would  not  buy  a  skin  to  make  a  cap,  without  their  assent." 
No  Hoonrr  is  an  American  trading  post  established,  than  a  British  agent,  with  more 
merchandise  and  a  larger  amount  of  ready  money,  settles  down  beside  it,  and  by 
the  superior  advantages  he  gives  the  Indians,  in  paying  high  and  selling  low, 
drives  the  American  trader  to  despair,  and  finally  sonds  him,  with  his  hopes 
crushed,  and  his  enterprise  destroyed,  back  to  the  States  a  ruined  man.  In  pur- 
suance of  the  same  monopolising  system,  the  Company  endeavor  to  prevent  the 
vessels  of  the  United  States  from  obtaining  cargoes  on  tho  Nortii  West  coast,  and 
truth  to  say,  they  are  generally  successful  in  their  object. 

By  its  enormous  wealth,  its  extensive  stations,  its  able  policy,  and  numerous 
retainers,  this  Company  has  indeed  become  a  formidable  body,  and  it  is  a  matter  of 
importance  that  we  should  make  ourselves  acquainted  with  its  genius  and  ita  ten- 
dencies. 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  the  representative  of  the  interests  of  Great  Britain  in 
Oregon ;  we  have  glanced  at  a  few  of  the  means  it  adopts  to  protect  and  further 
them,  and  now  that  recent  events  have  given  a  subordinate  aspect  to  their  political 

*  A  natural  obligation  where  so  many  are  got.     , 


■I'-;! 


46 


H^TORT  or  OREOON. 


f'5  i! 


position,  it  is  of  interest  to  examine  tho  mode  their  sagacity  has  devised  to  meet  and 
overcome  the  circumstances  threatening  their  decline. 

The  original  object  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  establishment  in  Oregon,  was 
for  the  purposes  of  fur  trading  alone,  and  to  that  their  operations  were  confined,  until 
their  investiture  with  the  attributes  of  territorial  sovereignty  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment. From  that  time,  however,  it  appears  they  considered  no  person  should  be 
permitted  within  the .  limits  of  the  tenitory,  except  by  their  consent,  and  hence 
their  degeneration  into  a  mere  band  of  conspirators,  as  evidenced  by  the  course  of 
policy  we  have  already  alluded  to.  At  length,  however,  the  fur  trade  in  the  countries 
of  the  Columbia  nearly  ceased,  and  the  Company  were  obliged  to  turn  their  atten- 
tion to  other  objects.  They  have,  it  will  be  found,  laid  out  farms  on  the  most 
extensive  scale,  erected  mills,  established  manufactures,  entered  into  the  fisheries, 
employed  vessels  for  the  purposes  of  commerce,  and,  in  short,  at  the  present  mo- 
ment, though  they  have  lost  the  regal  shadow,  they  present  the  aspect  of  a  domi- 
nant corporation,  whose  enormous  wealth  enables  it  to  engross  everything  above  the 
mere  pastoral  and  agricultural  branches  of  industry,  and  to  turn  even  the  products 
of  those,  into  their  already  overrunning  coffers.  This  is  not  presented  as  a  matter  of 
complaint  against  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  for  it  is  but  the  natural  bent  of  wealth 
and  corporative  enterprise,  to  monopolise  and  grasp,  to  the  destruction  of  every  op- 
posing influence,  but  it  affords  a  subject  of  reproachful  reflection  against  our  Go- 
venment,  for  not  checking  these  tendencies,  and  counteracting  their  effects,  by 
stretching  its  protection  to  those  who  fall  within  their  reach.  The  maternal  care  of 
England  for  her  subjects  stretches  to  the  most  obscure  extremity  of  the  earth ;  while 
the  eye  of  the  Republic  overlooks  its  despairing  children  even  in  a  portion  of  her 
own  immediate  dominions. 


r  I 


t  .-:. 


HISTORY   OF  OREGON. 


47 


i      PROPOSAL  FOR  ,.     ,,  < 

A  NATIONAL  RAIL  ROAD,    7 

FROM  THE  ATLANTIC  TO  THE  PACIFIC, 
!|  FOR  THE  PURPOSE  OF  OBTAINING  A  SHORT  ROUTE  TO  CHINA. 

Havino  ascertained  wViat  Oregon  is,  our  next  inquiry  becomes,  in  what  view  it 
is  of  the  most  importance  to  us,  and  how  we  may  most  readily  and  completely  avail 
ourselves  of  its  advantages. 

As  an  agricultural  country  it  is  of  no  great  importance  to  a  nation  having  con- 
tiguous leagues  on  leagues  of  land  yielding  the  same  products  nearer  at  home,  the 
abundant  fertility  of  which  has  never  yet  been  challenged  by  the  spade  or  plough* ; 
but  as  a  commercial  avenue  to  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  and  the  riches  of  the  Pacific, 
its  value  is  incalculable. 

In  any  view,  whether  agricultural  or  commercial,  the  advantages  and  worth  of 
this  territory  depend  upon  the  easiness  of  its  approach  from  the  States,  and  any 
means  that  are  adopted  to  facilitate  this  intercommunication,  will,  according  to  their 
degree  of  efficiency,  proportionably  advance  its  destiny.  Nature  has  already  con- 
tributed to  the  object  more  liberally  in  the  country  under  consideration,  than  to  the 
tame  extent  of  any  other  portion  of  the  globe.  From  the  Missouri  to  the  Rocky 
mountains  spreads  a  plais  scarcely  broken  by  a  hillock  ;  through  that  stupendous 
ridge  gapes  a  pass  presenting  no  discouraging  opposition  to  heavily  laden  wagons 
with  single  teams,  and  from  its  western  side  the  banks  of  the  Saptin  lead  the  tra- 
Telter  safely  through  to  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Columbia. 

The  time  required  fur  the  journey  by  the  present  mode  of  travelling  is  from  three 
to  four  months  ;  but  though  this  might  suffice  for  the  gradual  drain  of  a  surplus 
population,  it  will  not  meet  the  new  designs  which  the  full  possession  of  this  land 
of  promise  opens  to  us. 

These  designs  are  legitimately  the  same  which  have  agitated  the  commercial 
world  since  the  discovery  of  this  continent,  and  they  are  now  happily  within  out 
reach  and  accomplishment,  by  means  of  a  Rail  Road.  As  it  is  one  of  the  main 
purposes  of  this  work  to  urge  this  project  upon  The  People  of  this  country,  and  as 
it  is  filled  with  considerations  of  the  weightiest  moment,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
treat  it  with  that  method  and  particluarity  which  its  merits  demand,  and  which  will 
adapt  it  to  the  ready  and  accurate  comprehension  of  every  understanding. 

Our  first  purpose,  therefore,  will  be  to  measure  the  value  of  the  object  we  seek 
by  philosophical  inquiry,  and  by  the  estimation  of  its  importance  by  other  powers ; 
and  our  second,  to  glance  at  some  of  the  refiults  that  will  flow  from  it  to  our  benefit 
as  a  nation. 

The  commerce  of  the  East,  in  every  age,  has  been  the  source  ef  the  opulence 
and  power  of  every  nation  which  has  engrossed  it.  By  a  silent  and  almost  imper- 
ceptible operation,  India  has  been  through  centuries  the  secret  but  active  cause  of 
the  advancement  of  mankind,  and  while  lying  apparently  inert  in  her  voluptuous 
clime,  has  changed  the  m&ritime  balances  of  Europe  with  the  visit  of  every  new 
nation  that  has  sought  the  riches  of  her  shores.  Her  trade  imparted  the  first  great 
impulse  to  drowsy  and  timid  navigation ;  it  revealed  in  the  direction  to  its  coasts 
region  after  region  before  unknown ;  it  found  for  the  guidance  of  the  mariner  new 
planets  in  the  sky,  and  its  restless  spirit  has  not  even  been  content  to  make  more 

*  Oar  unoccupied  public  lands  amonnt  to  700,000,000  acres. ' 


48 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON. 


i;    '::^- 


tharf  a  temporary  pause  in  the  discovery  of  another  world.*  Like  the  Genii  of  the 
fable  it  still  offers  the  casket  and  the  sceptre  to  those,  who  unintimidated  by  the 
terrors  which  surround  it,  are  bold  enough  to  adventure  to  its  embrace.  In  turn, 
Phoenicia,  Israel,t  Carthage,  Greece,  Rome,  (through  her  vanquished  tributaries) 
Venice,  Pisa,  Genoa,  Portugal,  Holland,  and  lastly,  England,  have  won  and  worn 
the  ocean  diadenu     Our  destiny  now  offers  it  to  us ! 

To  shorten,  by  a  western  passage  the  route  to  the  Indies,  which  now  must  be 
conducted  circuitously  around  the  fearful  barriers  of  Cape  Horn  and  Southern  Af- 
rica, is  a  design  that  has  long  occupied  the  attention  and  aroused  the  exertions  of 
alt  maritime  nations.  The  first  and  most 'remarkable  effort  to  effect  it  was  made 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  by  Columbus,  which  resulted  in  the  dis- 
covery of  another  world,  and  the  search  has  been  maintained  with  but  little  inter- 
mission, by  the  intervening  ages,  ever  since.  Exploring  expeditions  to  both  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  have  pryed  in  every  sinuosity  of  shore  from  latitude  £0° 
South  to  the  borders  of  the  Frigid  zone,  and  in  the  defeat  of  their  exertions,  pro- 
jects have  been  formed  even  to  pierce  the  continent  to  accomplish  the  design.  As 
early  as  the  seventeenth  century,  a  company  was  formed  in  Scotland  to  improve 
the  advantages  offered  by  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  and  Panama,  for  trade  in  the  Pa- 
cific ;t  but  the  project  being  discountenansed  by  England  at  the  violent  remon- 
strances of  her  powerful  East  India  Company,  the  subscriptions  were  withdrawn 
and  the  enterprise  temporarily  dropped.  It  was  revived  soon  after  by  its  indefati- 
gable projector,  who,  having  raised  £700,000  and  1200  men,  set  sail  in  five  ships 
to  found  a  colony ;  but  being  denounced  by  the  government  and  attacked  by  a  Spa- 
nish force  while  its  reduced  numbers  were  suffering  under  disease  and  famine,  they 
sunk  under  their  accumulated  misfortunes  and  abandoned  the  enterprise  in  despair. 

From  that  time  to  this,  the  project  r'  dividing  the  Isthmus  has  been  a  favorite 
theme  with  European  philosophers  aud  statesmen ;  but  the  subject  appears  never 
to  have  advanced  beyond  the  bounds  of  mere  speculation  until  later  years.  In  ISll 
it  was  revived  by  Spain,  who  this  time  seemed  to  be  seriously  in  earnest  in  4he 
matter.  By  a  vote  of  her  Cortes,  dated  April  30th,  in  the  above  year,  the  immedi- 
ate commencement  of  the  work  was  decreed,  but  the  foreign  and  domestic  troubles 
into  which  she  was  plunged  at  this  period,  rendered  her  incapable  of  carrying  out 
the  grand  design. 

The  project  found  its  next  active  and  practical  supporter  in  Bolivar,  who  in  1827 
appointed  a  commissioner  to  ascertain,  by  actual  survey,  the  best  line  either  by  rail 
road  or  canal,  between  the  two  seas.  The  commissioner  reported  in  favor  of  the 
latter,  and  an  estimate  was  subsequently  made  by  a  French  engineer  that  a  canal, 
forty  miles  in  length,  might  be  constructed  across  it,  at  an  expense  of  less  than 
three  millions  of  dollars — but  the  untiinely  death  of  the  illustrious  patron  of  the 
scheme,  put  an  end  to  its  further  proeecution.  The  next  movement  in  the  measure 
took  place  in  1842,  when  the  Mexican  government,  upon  application,  empowered 
Don  Jose  de  Garay,  one  of  its  citizens,  to  effect  a  communication  across  its  territo- 
ries, between  the  oceans,  and  invested  him  with  the  most  ample  rights  and  immu- 
nities, on  condition  of  his  completing  the  work.  Don  Jose,  in  pursuance  of  his 
grant,  appointed  a  scientific  commission  that  accomplished  the  survey  in  1842  and 
1843,  the  result  of  which,  established  the  perfect  practicability  of  a  ship  canal  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec.     Upon  these  grounds  and  the  security  of  his  gover- 

*  The  object  of  Columbus,  was  not,  as  has  been  erroneously  supposed,  the  discorery  of  n 
new  continent,  but  a  shorter  route  to  Cathay. 

f  Envying  the  success  of  the  PhoBnicians,  David  and  Solomon,  after  having  seized  upon  Idu- 
mea  as  a  preparative,  sent  their  fleets  through  the  Arabian  Gulf  to  Tarshish,  Ophir,  and  other 
ports  in  Africa  and  India,  and  by  this  means  diffused  throughout  the  land  of  Israel  "  the  wealth 
of  OnnuR  and  of  Ind."  It  if  to  this  cause,  doubtless,  that  the  latter  monarch  specially  owes  his 
vast  reputation  for  sagacity,  as  well  as  the  splendor  of  his  reign. 

\  This  scheme  was  projected  by  William  Patterson,  who  was  supposed  to  have  been  origi- 
nally, a  South  American  Buccaneer,  cotemporary  with  Sir  Henry  Morgan. 


HISTORY    OF   OREGON. 


49 


mental  granti  and  privileges,  its  projector  is  now  in  London  soliciting  the  aid  of 
British  capital  to  carry  out  the  scheme. 

France,  with  the  view  of  advancing  the  value  of  her  oceanic  possessions,  is  deeply 
alive  to  the  importance  of  this  measure.  Under  tbo  special  patronage  of  Guizot 
and  Admiral  Roussin,  a  private  survey  of  the  Isthmus  has  recently  been  made,  the 
importance  attributed  to  which,  may  be  imagined  by  the  careful  suppression  of  its 
details  from  the  public.  Thus  evidences  multiply  that  the  world  will  not  much  lon- 
ger endure  the  petty  olMtacles  which  bar  them  from  the  long-desired  western  pas- 
sage to  the  Indies.  How  important,  therefore,  v.hat  we,  who  have  an  engrossing 
interest  in  this  subject,  should  protect  ourselves  from  being  outstripped  by  those 
whom  our  rapidly  advancing  destiny  already  prumisrs  to  leave  behind. 

The  English  government,  though  the  junction  of  the  seas  has  been  repeatedly  and 
etrenuously  urged  by  the  representatives  of  some  of  her  most  important  mercantile 
interests,  have  betrayed  an  apathy  upon  the  subject  which,  if  not  accounted  for  by 
the  principles  of  her  usually  selfish  policy,  would  appear  inexplicable ;  but  she  doubt- 
less reasons  thus — 

"  ♦  Let  well  alone.'  By  the  present  routes  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
through  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  we  have  a  fair  start  with  the  best,  and  a  superior 
chance  over  most  other  nations  for  the  Indies ;  and  while  our  established  power  in 
that  region  and  our  superior  marine  secures  us  a  preponderance  in  her  trade,  it 
would  be  madness  to  contribute  to  afford  superior  facilities  and  advantages  to  others. 
Through  her  geographical  position,  the  United  States,  from  whose  wonderful  ener- 
gies and  fearful  strides  toward  maritime  equality  we  have  everything  to  fear,  can 
more  readily  avail  herself  of  the  benefits  of  this  passage  than  any  other  nation.  Her 
fleets  would  stream  in  one  unbroken  line  through  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  her  naval 
power  would  overawe  our  settlements  on  the  North  west  coasts,  and  her  impertinent 
anterprise,  of  which  we  have  had  a  late  evidence  in  China,  would  extend  itself 
throughout  our  Indian  possessions.  The  Marquesas  Islands  which,  in  case  this  pro, 
ject  be  carried  out,  lie  directly  in  the  road  of  navigation,  would  at  a  step  advance 
into  one  of  the  most  important  maritime  posts  in  the  world,  while  the  Society  Is- 
lands also  in  the  possession  of  Franco,  would  enhance  immensely  in  their  value. 
Worse  than  all,  returning  back,  the  vessels  of  all  Europe,  would  ere  long  procure 
their  tropical  products  from  the  newly  awakened  islands  of  the  Ocean,  and  in  just 
the  degree  that  the  value  of  Oceana  would  increase,  our  West  India  possessions 
would  depreciate.  By  changing  the  route  and  extending  it  across  the  ocean  instead 
of  circuitously  through  it,  we  should  voluntarily  resign  into  other  hands  those  com- 
manding maritime  and  naval  stations  which  we  have  won  at  the  outlay  of  so  much 
diplomacy  and  perseverance.  The  power  and  advantages  of  St.  Helena,  Mauritius, 
Capetown  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the  Falkland  Islands  commanding  the 
passage  round  Cape  Horn,  will  be  transferred  to  New  Orleans  and  other  cities  of 
the  United  States  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to  Cuba,  Chagres,  Panama  and 
the  Marquesas  Islands.  Let  us,  therefore,  '  let  well  alone,'  and  be  content  with  our 
present  supremacy  upon  its  present  basis  ;  unless  indeed  we  can  gain  a  superior  ad- 
vantage through  the  Arctic  sea,*  or  monopolize  a  Mexican  route  to  the  shores  of 
the  Californias.  The  Isthmus  passage  must,  however,  be  discouraged,  and  if  per- 
severed in,  Cuba  must  at  all  hazards  be  obtained,  to  compensate  in  some  degree  for 
the  losses  we  shall  sustain  on  the  African  coasts." 


♦  Nkw  Votaoi  of  Ducotkrt.— It  is  in  the  contemplation  of  tho  British  govorntnent  to  send 
out  another  expedition  to  the  Arctic  Regioni,  with  tlio  view  of  discovering  the,  or  a  North- 
west passage,  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ;  and  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Society,  having 
hcen  solicited  to  give  their  opinion  as  to  the  desirableness  of  snch  an  expedition,  have  stated, 
that  independent  of  the  great  object  to  bo  attained,  tlie  benefits,  that  would  accrue  to  the  sciences 
of  geography  and  terrestrial  magnetism,  render  such  an  expedition  peculiarly  desirable.  The 
Erebus  and  Terror,  which  were  recently  employed  at  the  south  pole,  under  Sir  J.  Ross,  have 
returned  in  such  good  order,  as  to  bo  ready  to  bo  made  immediately  available  for  employment 
on  similar  service.— BngKiA  Paper. 


50 


HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 


Ui 


k  ^ 


'V.l 


'    f- 


This  supposition  is  by  no  means  strained.  Tt  is  but  a  fair  inference  from  Britain's 
well  known  scltish  character  and  policy,  and  the  United  States  would  be  justified  in 
turning  the  proposition  against  her. 

Having  thus  measured  the  importance  attributed  to  the  design  of  shortening  the 
western  passage  to  the  Indies,  by  the  immense  sums  which  have  been  lavished,  and 
tho  haiiarda  which  have  been  braved  upon  the  mere  hope  of  its  accomplishment,  is 
it  not  incumbent  upon  us  to  inquire  if  we  have  not  within  our  own  boundaries  the 
means  and  facilities  of  eSccling  it,  and  if  we  have,  is  it  not  likewise  incumbent  on 
us  to  carry  the  long  desired  object  to  its  fullilment  1  We  owe  this  to  our  own  cha- 
racter, to  our  posterity,  to  the  world — and  we  most  specially  owe  to  the  genius  of 
the  Fifteenth  century  (which  in  the  prosecution  of  this  very  plan  redeemed  us  from 
the  ocean)  the  completion  of  the  purpose  which  wo  barred. 

Tho  circumstance  of  England's  opposition  to  the  plan  (or  to  a  similar  one)  is  alono 
an  urgent  motive  to  the  undertaking ;  the  revelations  of  each  succeeding  day 
strengthen  the  opinion  that  our  interests  and  policy  are  founded  upon  antagonistic 
principles.  We  are  her  natural  rival  upon  the  ocean,  and  as  we  advance  she  re- 
tires. Wo  are  the  only  power  that  ever  baflled  her  arms,  and  the  course  of  things 
have  marked  us  as  the  heir  of  her  strength,  and  the  successor  to  her  trident.  Al- 
ready, the  commerce  of  the  globe  divided  into  eight  parts,  gives  more  than^»c  be- 
tween us  two,  and  a  sub-division  affords  but  one  part  less  to  us  than  to  her. 
Here,  to  use  tho  expression  of  one  of  her  own  writers,  is  a  "  great  fact ;" — a  fact  so 
pregnant  that  it  turns  Speculation  into  Prescience,  and  points  to  the  decree  of  Fate 
in  our  future  and  speedy  preponderance.  France  understands  the  relative  positions 
and  interests  of  this  country  and  Great  Britain  as  well  as,  if  not  better,  than  our- 
selves, and  is  perhaps  actuated  to  the  interest  she  takes  in  the  opening  of  the  Isth- 
mus by  a  mora  comprehensive  policy  than  that  which  springs  merely  from  the  influ- 
ences of  an  immediate  self-interest.  The  spirit  of  her  people  is  akin  to  ours,  their 
natural  bent  of  mind  inclines  them  for  democratic  institutions,  and  their  hearts  beat 
towards  us  with  sentiments  of  warm  affection.  To  quote  the  language  of  one  of 
their  popular  organs :  She  looks  towards  us  as  her  natural  ally  and  as  the  only  power 
which  can  eventually  release  the  ocean  from  the  tyranny  of  Great  Britain.  If  this 
hope  live  in  France,  how  much  stronger  must  its  ray  be  cherished  by  those  inferior 
powers  who  dare  not  aspire  to  rise  above  submission  ? 

"  Thero  is  a  divinity  that  shapes  the  ends"  of  nations  as  of  men,  and  we  may 
discern  the  fulfilment  of  the  maxim  in  the  continual  defeat  of  the  most  daring  enter- 
prize  of  man  as  applied  to  this  design,  through  a  period  of  four  centuries.  Not 
ripe  for  its  great  revolution,  Providence  has  denied  it  to  the  world  until  tho  hour 
should  arrive  for  the  first  great  step  toward  perfecting  the  grand  scheme  of  the  creation. 
A  thousand  combining  influences  tell  us  that  the  time  has  come  ;  the  universal  beams 
of  knowledge  have  driven  Superstition  and  Ignorance  from  the  stage  of  action  to  mope 
in  the  dreary  cells,  which  imprisoned  under  them  too  long  the  genius  of  mankind. 
Science  having  stripped  experiment  of  its  terrors,  measures  with  accuracy  the 
results  of  every  assay,  and  despising  the  obstacles  of  Nature,  whose  elements,  nay, 
even  tho  forked  lightning  itself,  she  has  fastened  to  her  car,  feels  as  capable  of 
beating  down  the  barriers  of  a  continent  as  of  measuring  the  distance  to  a  planet. 
Anew  principle  has  been  evoked,  which  though  simple  in  its  pretensions,  and  matter- 
of-fact  in  its  operations,  will  share  in  future  times  the  honor  of  the  Mariner's 
Compass  and  the  Printing  Press,  in  civilizing  and  advancing  man.  The  object 
of  each  is  sympathetic  with  the  other ;  the  result  of  each  must  tend  to  the  same 
end.  Their  principle  is  intercourse,  and  their  spirit  progress.  The  first,  awoke 
our  hemisphere  from  its  sleep  in  the  abyss ;  the  second  infused  sentiments  which 
turned  tho  footsteps  of  our  ancestors  toward  it ;  and  we  must  now  invoke  the  third, 
for  tho  final  accomplishment  of  its  destiny  ! 

It  is  true  thero  is  much  that  is  startling  in^the  proposition  of  a  National  Rail 
RoAU  FBOM  THE  ATLANTIC  TO  THE  Pacific  ocbans,  and  ffluch  that  will  strike  tho 


M  « 


HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 


51 


liasty  •baerver  as  chimerical ;  but  when  we  have  seen  stupendous  pyramids  raised 
by  human  hands  in  the  midst  of  a  sterile  and  shifting  desert;  while  we  know  that 
'despite  the  obstacles  of  Nature  and  the  rudeneos  of  Art,  a  semi-barbarous  people, 
many  centuries  before  the  christian  era,  erected  around  their  empire  a  solid  barrier 
of  wall,  thirty  feet  in  height,  and  so  broad  that  six  horsemen  could  ride  on  it  abreast, 
carrying  it  over  the  most  formidable  mountains,  across  rivers  on  arches,  and  through 
the  declensions  and  sinuosities  of  valkys,  to  the  distance  of  fifteen  hu.  ircd  miles, 
let  us  not  insult  the  enterprize  of  this  cnlij^^htened  age,  by  denouncing  the  plan  of  a 
simple  line  of  rails,  over  a  surface  but  a  little  greater  in  extent,  without  on  j  half  the 
natural  obstacles  to  overcome,  as  visionary  and  impracticable. 

Geographers  variously  estimate  the  greatest  breadth  of  our  country  frjm  ocean  to 
ocean  at  1,7G0  to  2000  miles.*  Taking  the  largest  estimate,  and  adding  to  it  600 
miles,  to  allow  for  occasional  deviation  of  route,  and  we  have  a  distance  of  2,500 
miles ;  which  at  the  moderate  rate  uf  fifteen  miles  to  the  hour,t  cam  be  accomplished 
in  seven  days.  We  have  already  from  New  York,  a  continuous  line  of  rail- road 
and  steamboat  communication,  laid  out  to  Chicago,  Illinois;  proceeding  from  which 
point  .directly  along  the  42d  parallel,  we  find  a  smooth  and  gently  rolling  plain, 
without  serious  obstruction  or  obstacle  in  any  part,  until  we  strike  the  Great 
Southern  Pass,  through  the  Rocky  Mountains,  into  Oregon.  The  following  accoun  t 
of  an  expedition  in  wagons  to  this  point,  in  1829,  will  serve  to  show  the  nature 
of  the  facilities  which  olfei  themselves  to  the  traveller  through  the  region  lying 
between  the  mountains  and  the  States.  It  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  addressed  by 
Msssrs.  Snith,  Jackson,  and  Soublette,  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  in  October,  1829, 
and  published  with  Prei^ident  Jackon's  message,  January  25th,  1831 : 

"On  the  lOth  of  April  last,  (1829,)  we  set  out  from  St.  Louis  with  eighty-one 
men,  all  mounted  on  mules,  ten  wagons,  each  drawn  by  five  mules,  and  two 
dearborns,  (light  carriages  or  carts,)  each  drawn  by  one  mule.  Our  route  was  nearly 
-due  west,  to  the  western  limits  of  the  state  of  Misiouri,  and  thence  along  the  Santa 
Fe  trail,  about  forty  miles  from  which,  the  course  was  some  degrees  north  of  west, 
across  the  waters  of  the  Kansas,t  and  up  the  Great  Platte  River,  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  to  the  head  of  Wind  river,  where  it  issues  from  the  mountains.. 

"  This  took  us  until  the  16ih  of  .luly,  and  was  as  far  as  we  wished  the  wagons 
to  go,  as  the  furs  to  be  brought  in,  were  to  be  collected  at  this  place,  which  is,  or 
was,  this  year  the  great  rendezvous  of  the  persons  engaged  in  that  business.  Here 
4he  waggons  could  easily  haee  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains,  it  being  what  is  called 
the  SOUTHERN  pass,  had  it  been  desirable  for  them  to  do  so  ;  which  it  was  not,  for  the 
reason  stated.  For  onr  support,  at  leaving  the  Missouri  settlements,  until  we 
should  get  into  the  buffalo  country,  we  drove  twelve  head  of  cattle,  besides  a  milch 
uow.  Eight  of  them  only  being  required  for  use  before  we  got  to  the  buffaloes,  the 
otheis  went  on  to  the  head  of  Wind  river  On  the  4th  of  August,  the  wagons 
being  in  the  mean  time  loaded  with  the  furs  which  had  been  previously  taken,  we 
set  out  on  the  return  to  St.  Louis.  All  the  high  points  of  the  mountains  then  in 
Tievv,  were  whito  wiih  snow  ;  but  tire  passes  and  valleys,  and  all  the  level  country, 
were  green  with  grass.  Our  route  back  was  over  the  same  ground  nearly  as  in 
going  out,  and  we  arrived  at  St.  Louis  on  the  lOlh  of  October,  bringing  back  the 
ten  wagons,  (the  dearborns  being  left  behind  ;)  four  of  the  oxen  and  the  milch  cow 
were  also  brought  back  to  the  settlements  of  the  Missouri,  as  we  did  not  need  them 
for  provision.  The  usual  weight  in  the  wagons  was  about  one  thousand,  eight 
hundred  pounds.  The  usual  progress  of  the  wagons  was  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
miles  per  day.  The  country  being  almost  all  open,  level,  and  prairie,  the  chief  ob- 
structions were  ravines  and  creeks,  the  banks  of  which  required  cutting  down  ;  and 
for  this  purpose,  a  few  pioneers  were  generally  kept  ahead  of  the  caravan.     This  is 

»  McCulloeh,  in  his  Gazetteer,  compiled  from  all  the  authorities,  estimates  the  breadth  at 
its  widest  stretch  to  be  .1,700  miles— Professor  Morse,  in  hi*  Geography  published  in  1846, 
at  3000. 

t  Our  Boston  rail-road  cars  frequently  travel  at  Vxe  rate  of  32  miles  to  the  hour,  stoppage 
included, 

\  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  this  departure  from  the  direct  line  of  route  along  the  43d 
parallel,  is  pursued  by  travellers  with  a  view  of  obtaining  water,  and  also  game  ;  which  are 
JBvariably  to  be  found  in  the  vicinity  of  great  rivers. 


sa 


HISTORY  OF  OREaOK. 


% 


the  first  time  that  wagons  ever  went  to  the  Kocky  mountains,  and  the  ease  im£ 
tafchj  with  which  it  was  done,  prove  Ike  facility  of  eommunimlinfr  overland  with  the 
Pacific  Ocean ;  the  route  from  the  southern  pass,  where  the  wa.<rons  slopped,  to  the 
Great  Falls  of  the  Columbia,  hexng  easier  and  better  than  on  this  side  of  the  moun' 
IOJ««,  with  grass  enough  for  horses  and  vuiles,  but  a  scarcitijnf  grain  for  the  sup- 
port of  men\ 

In  addition  to  this  account,  which  so  satijfactonly  establishes  the  feasibility  of  the 
worit  in  view,  we  have  the  corroboriitive  relation,  if  corrobration  lends  any  strength 
to  indisputable  testimony,  of  Thomas  P.  Farnhatn-,  who,  in  his  journal  of  a  journey 
made  from  the  Mississippi  to-  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  in  1840,  gives  us  the  fol- 
lowing statement. 

"Among  the  curiosities  of  this  phice,  (Fort  Boia^,  a  trading  post  on  the  Saptin,) 
were  the  fore-wheels,  azietree  and  thills  of  a  one-horse  wagon,  run  by  American 
missionaries  from  the  stale  of  Connecticut,  thus  far  towards  the  mouth  of  the  Co- 
lumbia. It  was  left  here  under  the  belief  that  it  could  not  be  taken  through  the 
Blue  mountains,  but  fortunately  for  the  next  that  shall  attempt  to  cross  the  conti- 
nent, a  safe  and  easy  passage  has  lately  been  discovered,  by  which  vehicles  of  this 
description  may  be  drawn  through  to  the  Wallawalla."  Here  we  harve  the  testi- 
mony of  an  intelligent  observer  who  has  travelled  over  every  inch  of  the  route,  as 
well  that  on  this  side  of  the  mountains  as  the  portion  unexplored  by  the  former 
party,  whose  account  we  have  previously  given.  This,  with  numerous  similar  ac- 
counts in  existence,  among  which  is  the  journal  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  must 
convince  the  most  skeptical  that  a  rail-road  to  and  through  this  district  of  country 
it  practicable  beyond  a  doubt.  There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  upon  the 
careful  preparatory  survey  which  must  be  instituted,  new  notches  through  these  for- 
midable riiiges  may  be  found,  still  better  adapted  to  the  work  in  view,  and  in  a  more 
direct  line  with  Pnget's  Sound,  in  whoso  commodious  harbors  our  commercial 
operations  in  the  Pacific,  from  the  absolute  absence  of  the  requisite  facilities  on 
any  southern  portion  of  the  Oregon  coast,  must  necessarily  centre.*  Taking  the 
practicability  of  the  work  therefore  as  established,  it  will  nut  be  improper  to  devote 
ourselves  to  a  short  inquiry  as  l&  tlte  other  modes  and  means  of  effecting  the  ulti- 
mate design. 

In  these,  Nature  herself  volunteers  her  assistance  to  tho  enterprise.  No  ocean 
is  80  remarkably  adapted  to  steam  navigation  as  tho  Pacific.  Its  tranquil  surface  is 
scarcely  ever  agitated  by  a  storm,  and  propitious  winds  and  currents  accelerate  the 
course  of  the  mariner  across  its  bosom.  The  general  motion  of  its  waters  is  from 
west  to  east,  at  the  average  velocity  of  twenty- eight  miles  a  day.  In  consequence, 
the  sea  appears  on  some  portions  of  the  coast  to  flow  constantly  from  the  land,  and 
Tessels  sail  with  great  celerity  from  Acapulco  in  Mexico  to  the  Phillippine  Islands, 
on  the  coast  of  Asia.  The  N.  E.  trade  winds  bbw  almost  uninterruptedly  between 
latitudes  5°  and  23'^  north,  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  currents  and  the  flow  of 
the  sea,  enable  vessels  within  this  region,  to  sail  from  America  to  Asia,  almost 
without  changing  their  saib.  Our  course  to  the  Indies  from  the  mouth  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, or  from  the  Straits  of  St.  Jean  de  Fuca,  would  be  South  West  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  and  from  thence,  directly  along  the  twentieth  parallel,  across.  Re- 
turning by  a  more  northwardly  route,  advantage  would  be  taken  of  the  polar  cur- 
rents which  set  N.  W.  towards  the  Straits  of  Behring,  and  also  of  the  variable 
winds  prevailing  in  the  higher  latitudes.  Having  crossed  our  continent  in  seven 
days,  we  span  the  Pacific  in  twenty-five  more,  and  thus  in  thirty-two,  reach  the 
ports  of  China :  by  the  same  route  back,  the  products  of  the  East  may  land  upon 
the  shores  of  Europe  in  forty-six  days ;  a  period  of  time  but  little  more  than  one 
third  of  that  now  taken  to  make  the  ordinary  passages  around  the  southern  extremi- 
ties of  America  and  Africa. 

♦  By  crossing  the  river  at  Wallawalla  and  proceeding  in  a  direct  line  along  the  banks  of  the 
Eyakcma  river,  the  distance  is  shorter  to  the  harbors  of  Puget's  Sound  than  to  the  [shores  of 
the  ocean, 


II    » 


HISTOBT  OF  OREGON. 


The  view  that  this  opens  to  the  mind,  independent  of  its  internal  benefits, 
staggers  speculation  with  its  immensity,  and  stretches  beyond  all  ordinary  rulei 
■of  calculation.  A  moderate  forecant  may,  however,  foresee  the  followfng  results. 
Tho  riches  of  the  most  unlimited  market  in  the  world  would  be  thrown  open  to 
our  enterprise,  and  obeying  the  now  iinpulso  thus  imparted  to  it,  our  commerce 
would  increase  till  every  ocean  billow  between  us  and  the  China  sea  would  twin- 
kle with  a  sail.  By  the  superior  facilities  conferred  upon  us  by  our  position  and 
control  of  the  route,  we  should' become  the  common  carrier  of  the  world  for  the 
India  trade.  "  Britannia  rules  the  waves,"  would  dwindle  to  an  empty  boast, 
and  England  would  have  to  descend  from  her  arrogart  assumption  of  empire  o'er 
the  sea,  to  the  ley-l  of  a  suppliant's  tone,  in  common  with  the  great  and  small  of 
the  Euri"'-    ^p  for  the  benefits  of  this  a-,-—"  of  nations.     The  employment 

as  comu...  aarrie  M  be  secured  to  ub  hj  imposition  of  a  tonnage  duty, 
heavy  enough  to  amount  to  a  prohibition,  upon  all  foreign  bottoms  arriving  at  our 
Pacific  coast.  There  is  nothing  remarkably  selfish,  neither  is  there  any  thing  re- 
pugnant to  fair'dealing  in  this  regulation;  we  are  deserving  of  one  special  advan- 
tage as  a  premium  for  conferring  this  benefit  upon  all,  and  we  have  the  exampi}  of 
Great  Britain  herself,  to  justify  us  in  the  adoption  of  the  rule.  The  rapid  and  ex- 
cessive increase  of  our  commercial  marine  would  necessarily  foUow  this  result. 
Encouraged  by  the  comparative  ease  and  safety  of  ita  service,  and  enticed  by  the 
liberal  wages  which  the  demand  for  so  many  hands  would  ensure,  thousands  of  our 
young  men,  whom  the  dangers  and  privations  of  a  seafaring  life  have  heretofore 
deterred  from  carrying  out  the  natural  desire  of  visitmg  foreign  climes,  would  em- 
brace the  sailor's  occupation,  and  a  nursery  would  thus  be  established,  from  whose 
exhaustless  sources  the  demand  of  our  increasing  navy  would  always  find  a  supply. 

Our  contiguity  and  other  peculiar  advantages  would  ensure  us  the  pre-emption 
of  all  the  markets  of  the  Pacific.  Our  /apidly  increasing  cotton  and  other  factories, 
under  this  impulse  would  increase  anew;  our  e.xtending  agricultural  operations 
would  widen  till  they  waved  their  golden  harvest  o'er  and  o'er  the  land,  and  to- 
gether they  would  distribute  their  products  along  the  western  coasts  and  diffuse 
them  among  tho  islands  of  the  ocean.  In  return,  Ooeana,  whose  trade  and  con- 
sumption both  would  greatly  multiply  by  the  same  imparted  motive,  would  pour  her 
treasures  into  the  bosom  of  our  country,  and  render  us,  by  her  liberal  supply  of 
tropical  productions,  independent  of  the  West  Indies.  Our  exportations  of  flour, 
at  the  exorbitant  rates  which  it  commands  in  the  markets  of  these  regions,  would 
alone  be  a  source  of  immense  wealth,  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  profits  of  a  new 
article  of  import  from  the  coast  of  Peru,  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  of  less  im- 
portance. Guano,  but  little  known  in  1840,  is  now  exciting  the  deep  attention  of 
the  cultivators  of  the  soil  of  all  nations,  and  to  such  an  extent  has  its  trade  in- 
creased, that  from  the  importation  of  but  a  few  Ions  five  years  ago,  six  hundred 
vessels  of  a  large  class  are  now  employed  in  supplying  the  wants  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  alone.  It  is  already  beginning  to  be  introduced  into  this  country,  and 
ere  long  we  may  expect  to  see  its  supply  increase  in  a  corresponding  ratio  v;ith  the 
European  demand.  Now,  it  comes  to  us  surcharged  with  the  expenses  of  a  long 
end  dangerous  voyage;  then,  it  would  be  obtained  at  one  half  its  present  'l.srgcs, 
and  we  should  be  furnished  with  the  most  valuable  fertilizer  known  to  man,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  impoverished  portions  of  our  Oregon  soil.  The  chief  obstacle  to  the 
dense  population  of  that  territory  is,  therefore,  providentially  obviated.* 

Our  Whale  fishery  and  other  branches  of  commerce  in  the  Pacific,  would  be  bet- 
ter protected,  and  the  prosecutors  of  the  former  would  have  convet)ient  ports  to  refit 
in  ;  to  seek  a  hasty  refuge  at  in  case  of  war,  and  to  obtain  the  speedy  means  of  re- 
dress from,  should  they  be  made  the  victims  of  the  outrage  of  any  foreign  naval  power. 

'  "  There  wilf  bo  no  didiculty ,"  says  a  work  written  in  Liverpool  on  the  above  suT)ject,  " ia 
obtaining  I'rom  tho  coast  of  Peru  for  the  next  ICOO  years,  a  supply  of  guano  adequate  to  the  want« 
of  tho  British/armer." 


54 


HISTORY   OF  OREGOir. 


■  *; 


.  s 
if''; 


n 

hi 


-i^ 


An  additional  proof  of  the  necessity  of  increasing  our  naval  power  in  this  quarter  is 
furniiihed  in  the  lute  account  of  the  ravages  of  the  Pirates  of  the  Asiatic  iHlen,  upon 
European  vCssols. 

Our  relations  with  China  would  be  guarded  and  strengthened,  and  in  caso  a  ne- 
cessity should  arise  to  redress  a  wrong,  resent  an  insult,  or  resist  an  aggression,  wo 
should  he  able,  helped  by  the  speed  of  our  advices,  to  throw  a  preponderating  mili- 
tary force  there  three  months  previous  to  any  European  power. 

There  are  other  views  which  open  at  this  Ktii;,'o  of  the  analysis,  upon  which  it  will 
not  be  improper  tu  bestow  a  share  of  our  consideration. 

The  vast  expanse  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  has  been  as  yet  but  imperfectly  explored, 
and  there  is  reason  to  believe  there  are  many  islands  reposing  on  its  bosom  whose 
fertile  shores  have  never  met  the  eye  of  man.  Some  of  these  ocean  gems  lie  di- 
rectly in  our  eastward  or  westward  track,  and  their  value  to  us  as  resting  places  and 
points  of  supply,  as  well  as  posts  for  the  erection  of  our  fortificatiouF,  would  be  in- 
estimable.  This  brings  to  mind  the  fact  that  there  is  one  important  branch  of  com- 
mercial policy,  hitherto  overlooked  and  neglected  by  ua,  which  the  course  of  things 
now  call  upon  us  to  adopt ;  and  that  is  the  securing  under  our  own  flag  and  rule 
of  maritime  posts  in  the  dilferenl  fields  of  our  commercial  enterprise.  We  may  be 
told  that  this  is  an  infraction  of  our  constitutional  economy,  a  violation  of  the  spirit 
of  our  institutions,  and  that  it  springs  from  a  wild  and  disordered  lust  for  power  which 
will  eventuate  in  our  dissolution  ;  in  short  every  argument  will  be  brought  forward 
by  philosophers  learned  in  mill-stones,  to  oppose  the  aggrandisement  of  the  country 
on  the  principle  of  aggregation.  Tiiese  sachems  have  been  told  in  their  primary 
classes  at  school,  that  Greece  and  Hume  fell  by  their  unbounded  ambition,  and  it 
would  take  little  short  of  a  defeat  of  Nature  to  dispossess  them  of  the  idea.  Ti  ey 
therefore,  make  it  a  primari/  object  to  denounce  every  extension  of  territory  as  de- 
morBlising  and  destructive,  and  point  triumphantly  to  History  to  establish  the  asser- 
tion. Admitting  this  to  be  the  case,  though  it  applied  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
^n  an  early  age,  and  might  apply  to  any  other  nation  in  the  same  cycle,  it  does  not 
apply  to  us  in  thft' present  time.  We  are  a  new  people,  in  a  new  era,  acting  on  new 
principles,  and  working  out  a  new  and  grand  problem  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 
"History,"  to  make  a  grotesque  application  of  a  common  term — " is  behind  the 
age."  But  aside  from  our  exception  from  their  rule,  their  proposition  is  false  as  to 
its  facts,  and  carries  absurdity  in  its  very  face. 

How  did  Greece  become  great  enough  to  decline — and  how  did  Rome  from  a  speck 
upon  a  hill-top  win  the  Imperial  diadem  that  marked  the  mastery  of  a  world  ? 
Surely  not  by  building  fences  around  their  original  limits,  and  vowing  never  to  go 
beyond.  Such  a  resolution  would  share  credit  for  sagacity  with  the  refusal  of  a 
handsome  fortune  by  a  needy  man,  because  at  some  day  he  must  die  and  leave  it, 
and  might  also  be, compared  to  that  stretch  of  forecast  which  would  induce  a  states- 
man to  refu.'se  all  worldly  power  and  honours,  because  forsooth,  they  must  descend 
to  a  successor.  Nations  do  not  perish  in  a  moment ;  they  are  neither  swallowed 
up  in  the  earth  like  Korah  and  his  com])any,  nor  do  they  go  out  like  the  snuff  of  & 
candle ;  they  have  degrees  to  their  decline,  and  while  it  is  perfectly  easy  to  detect 
all  the  natural  causes  of  their  decease,  we  have  no  excuse  in  closing  our  eyes  upon  a 
fanciful  hypolhcsi.s,  which  finds  its  basis  only  in  the  imagination. 

How  did  Greece  and  Rome  fall .'  Not  by  the  extension  of  territory  as  a  cause, 
(though  to  maintain  its  extreme  points  weakened  her  in  her  decline,)  but  by  the  vices 
which  crept  into  her  constitution  ;  from  the  progress  of  those  corruptions  which  arc 
inseparable  from  aristocratical  systems ;  from  ignorance  of  the  true  principles  of 
govennncnt,  and  consequently  from  the  effect  of  unequal  laws  and  unequal  repre- 
sentation. The  distant  tributary,  suffering  under  the  exactions  of  a  subaltern  des- 
pot and  his  military  bands,  being  too  far  removed  from  the  jiarent  government  to 
represent  its  grievances  within  a  period  to  give  redress  a  value,  and  at  the  same 
time,  too  far  removed  to  dread  its  enervated  power,  threw  off  the  allegiance  which 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON. 


65 


only  imposed  onerauB  conditions  nnd  conferrnd  no  benefits  but  a  humiliating  pcnco. 
Thf  example  of  defection  thus  safely  set,  was  followed  by  another  and  another,  and 
nttackod  at  the  same  tinio  by  a  new,  vigorous  nnd  iniiumcfnblo  enemy,  Kumo  fell. 
She  fell  through  her  own  debasement,  and  her  genius  retired  before  the  superior 
vigor  and  energy  of  an  uncorruptcd  race.  The  extreme  extension  of  territory  in  an 
ago  when  travelling  could  only  bo  accomplished  with  insuperable  difficulty  would 
doubtless  rather  weaken  than  strengthen  a  nation's  power,  from  the  difficulty,  of 
striking  rapidly  at  rebellion,  but  where  the  communications  arc  as  speedy  and  com- 
plete as  they  are  in  the  present  day,  the  comparison  will  not  apply.  Kiiil  Roads. 
Steam  Engines,  and  the  Magnet,  have  "  annihilated  space,  and  exploded  all  theories 
which  ro-ted  on  the  accidents  of  time  and  distancn  ;"  an  expanded  order  of  intelli- 
gence has  shown  the  benefits  of  union  in  a  common  system,  and  though  our  do- 
minion stretched  throughout  the  boundaries  of  this  hemisphere,  with  the  elements 
for  our  agents,  nnd  the  lightning  of  heaven  for  our  slave,  we  could  bind  its  extremi- 
ties together  in  a  moment,  and  throw  the  impubes  of  our  power  from  ci 'I  to  end, 
with  the  rapidity  of  thought. 

By  overlooking  the  means  of  protecting  our  marine  by  the  discovery  or  purchase 
of  those  island  stations,  we  are  behind  every  nation  in  the  world  in  commercial  sa- 
gacity. Franco  roars  her  fortifications  on  the  coasts  of  Morocco,  in  tho  islands  of 
the  Atlantic,  Pacific  and  Indian  oceans,  and  by  a  late  arrangement,  even  plants  her 
standard  in  the  very  mouth  of  Canton.  Tho  Dutch  own  the  richest  of  the  Asiatic 
isles,  and  Spain  rules  absolute  in  the  Phili])ine8.  Russia,  not  content  with  ovet 
7,000,000  square  miles,  extending  from  central  Europe  to  the  extremity  of  eastern 
Asia,  has  made  a  lodgnicnt  on  our  continent,  and  marks  the  line  of  her  possessions 
to  the  North,  as  a  bar  to  our  farther  advance ;  and  even  Portuiral  and  Denmark, 
hold  their  warlike  posts  in  many  parts  of  the  Atlantic  ocean.  The  acquisitions  of 
England  are  so  well  known  they  hardly  need  recapitulation.  It  has  been  well  said, 
that  the  Sun  never  sets  upon  her  dominions,  and  that  the  thunder  of  her  mornins; 
gun  from  post  to  post  around  tho  world,  falls  into  the  measure  of  a  continuous 
salute. 

Gibraltar,  Malta  and  the  Ionian  Isles,  give  her  tho  control  of  the  entire  Mediteira- 
nean  ;  St.  Helena,  Ascension  Island,  Cape  Town  and  Mauritius,  keep  watch  along 
the  coasts  of  Africa;  she  has  settlements,  fortifications  and  territorial  governments 
over  all  the  shores  of  Hindostan,  and  her  power  extends  throughout  the  whole  of 
tho  Eastern  region.  Further  south,  her  empire  spreads  over  the  whole  of  Austra- 
lasia ; — Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia,  Bermuda,  tho  Bahamas  nnd  her  West  India 
Islands,  command  the  entire  stretch  of  our  Atlantic  coast  and  the  entrance  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  while  Canada  environs  us  upon  our  Northern  border ;  yet  probably 
England  would  be  the  first  to  assure  us,  in  connection  with  some  of  our  own  good  ad- 
visers, that  extension  of  territory  is  the  sure  cause  of  a  nation's  eventual  destruc- 
tion. She,  however,  pursues  this  policy  herself,  with  the  knowledge  that  it  adds  to 
her  aggrandisement  and  power  at  every  new  stage  of  its  consummation.  With  a 
view  of  aiding  her  steam  navigation  across  the  Pacific,  she  has  lately  purchased  a 
little  island  in  it,  on  which  two  coal  mines  have  been  discovered  ;  she  has  not  even 
thought  a  miserable  patch  of  ground  on  the  Mosquito  shore,*  too  insignificant  to 
seize,  and  she  is  now,  doubtless,  intriguing  for  the  prize  of  Cuba  and  the  Califor- 
nias.  Russia  is  ready  to  devour  Turkey  or  engulf  another  Poland.  Austria  has 
long  looked  with  a  greedy  eye  upon  the  plains  of  Italy  ;  and  every  power 
on  the  face  of  the  earth,  seek  new  acquisitions  with  the  utmost  avidity ;  while 
the  United  States,  as  if  she  had  not  recovered  from  the  astonishment  of  falling  sud- 
denly into  the  possession  of  2,000,000  square  miles  68  years  ago,  folds  her  unas. 
Burning  hands,  and  with  an  amiable  bow  which  betrays  the  modesty  of  her  character, 
exclaims,  "  thank  you.  Gentlemen  Powers,  not  a  bit  moro  if  you  please  !" 

'  Tliis  u-as  seized  on  pretence  of  it  being  a  bccjucst  from  an  Alricafl  cliii.'i. 


99 


HISTORY    or   OREOON. 


I'-',     I 


u. 


The  oppoiora  of  the  course  of  policy  wo  advocate,  if  nut  able  to  defeat  it  on  th* 
groiimlii  of  renton  or  prncedent,  will  ttnd  their  last  resource  in  iho  tyranny  of  preju- 
dice, arid  the  opinion  of  Washington,  will  duubtless  be  apjiealcd  to,  as  a  tettler  of 
•he  proposition  out  of  hand.  The  ago,  howevtir,  has  outgrown  fhis  species  of  con- 
trol. Our  notions  of  liberty  have  bcconiB  extended  to  the  degree  that  embraces  the 
right  of  judging  fur  ourselves  ;  and  wo  feel  no  fear  of  startling  the  horror  of  our 
readers  by  the  aasertion  that  there  are  at  least  half  a  million  of  people  in  the  United 
States,  who,  from  the  new  principles  which  scirrice  has  envoked  in  the  present  ge- 
neration, are  better  judges  of  the  cfTects  of  the  adoption  of  this  policy,  now,  than 
"Washington,  or  any  other  man,  who  died  forty-five  years  ago,  could  possibly  haTO 
been.  There  is  too  much  of  this  knuckling  to  precedent  and  old  opinion.  \/e 
can  benefit  by  the  e.Tperiunco  of  a  past  ag'i,  without  becoming  itie  hereditary  l)ond»« 
men  of  their  ideas  :  wo  can  treat  its  wisdom  with  all  the  cunsidcratinn  it  deaervoi* 
without  presenting  the  absurd  Bpcctiicio,  of  a  people  claiming  to  bo  free,  who  have 
absolutely.signed  away  freedom's  main  component  in  the  liberhj  of  mind. 

Again,  vast  countries  still  lie  in  the  fairy  regions  of  the  East,  the  productions  and 
resources  of  which  arc  scarcely  known  to  us,  and  that  only  await  the  civilising  influ- 
ence of  such  a  nchemo  ns  this,  to  throw  down  their  barriers  of  prejudice  and  super- 
stition, and  embrace  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  the  social  blessings  of  the  world.  Of 
this  nature  and  character  in  the  opt>lent  empire  of  Japan.  Though  second  but  to 
China  itself,  it  holds  no  intercourse  with  foreigners,  and  only  permits  one  natiot) 
(the  Dutch)  to  land  upon  its  dominions.  Ought  it  to  be  too  much  fur  American 
diplomacy  to  effect  its  comtnercial  and  social  redemption  and  throw  ita  rich  markets 
open  to  our  enterprise. 

Tho  Oregon  route,  should  this  project  be  carried  through,  would,  for  its  shortness, 
for  its  safety,  for  its  comparative  comfort  and  llic  accuracy  with  which  the  duration  of 
its  travel  could  be  calculated,  be  selected  in  preference  to  any  other  by  all  travellers  to 
the  East,  or  the  regions  of  the  Pacific.  These  would'  comprise  among  their  number 
ambassadors  and  their  suite:) ;  consuls  and  other  government  oflicors  to  China  and 
the  Indies,  lo  New  Holland,  to  the  jjorts  of  the  western  coast,  and  the  islands  of 
Polynesia,  and  enticed  by  the  facilities  afforded  to  them,  many  who  otherwise  wuidd 
never  have  attempted  the  perils  and  discomforts  of  the  old  voyage,  would  make  a 
trip  to  the  Indies  or  some  island  paradise  in  the  Pacific,  leaving  us  as  they  passed 
leisurely  through  our  territory,  a  portion  of  their  wealth.  Add  to  this  source  of  profit, 
the  toll  of  the  enormous  amount  of  foreign  mf  rchandize  which  must  seek  this  avenue, 
or  be  shut  out  from  a  market  altogether,  and  the  postages  which  the  great  number  of 
letters  pouring  in  from  every  part  of  Europe  would  afford,  and  its  revenues  would  be 
immense  indeed.  Yet  the  sources  of  all  this  vast  income  would  be  surplus  profit, 
for  a  short  experience  would  prove,  that  our  own  internal  trade,  communications 
and  postages,  would  not  only  pay  the  current  expenses  of  the  road  of  themselves, 
but  woukd  afford  a  liberal  per  ccniagu  on  the  amount  of  capital  invested. 

Experience  has  pr6ved  that  no  direction  which  can  be  given  to  human  enterprise, 
is  so  active  and  effectual  in  developing  the  resources  of  a  country,  as  thai  involved 
in  rail-roads;  and  without  a'ty  regard  to  its  stupendous  national  advantages,  both 
external  and  domestic,  immediate  anC  ultimate,  it  would  be  found  that  the  result 
of  this  project  would  justify  the  undertaking  merely  as  a  measure  of  internal 
improvement. 

The  navigable  distance  to  the  mouth  of  tho  Columbia  is  now,  by  the  route  around 
Cape  Horn,  about  19,000  miles  from  the  port  of  New  York;  by  the  proposed  route* 
it  would  he  less  than  3,000;  which  affords  tho  enormous  saving  of  16,000  miles- 
The  natural  effect  of  such  a  communicatioi)  across  the  continent  would  be  the  rapid 
settlement  of  Oregon,  the  sudden  growth  of  a  great  commercial  and  manufacturing 
city  at  its  Pacific  terminus,  and  the  establishment  of  a  naval  station  on  Pilget's  Sound. 
For  both  of  these  latter  objects,  every  facility  is  providentially  afforded.  Fine 
building  stone  abounds  in  every  direction,  the  best  timber  in  the  world  stud  its 


HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 


57 


foreita,  tho  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  ocean  abounds  in  favorable  aitea  for 
water  power,  and  for  the  auatenance  of  ateam  navigntion,  large  minea  uf  coal  Hro  to 
bo  found  in  difTerrnt  parta  of  the  country.  For  the  eatablishmentof  a  naval  atation, 
the  harbora  of  St.  Jean  do  Fuca  and  Puget's  Sound,  ufTer,  aa  wo  have  alrnady 
acen,  peculiar  facilitiea  for  the  erection  of  the  worka  of  a  great  maritime  nation. 

The  coat  of  the  work  ia  the  next  branch  of  inquiry  that  demanda  our  attention. 
For  a  guide  to  an  eatimato  of  thia  wo  have  tho  tabular  atatements  of  the  American 
Rail-ruad  Journal,  (a  reliable  authority,)  which  by  a  late  computation,  aeta  the 
ogg'^gnte  number  of  tnilea  of  rail-way  in  thia  country  at  5,000 ;  the  coat  of  which 
bat  been  S  125,000,000,  or  $25,000  per  mile. 

Aa  a  portion  of  thia  expense  ia  occaaioned  by  land  damages,  or  land  for  the  track, 
moat  of  which  liea  in  thickly  aettled,  and,  consequently,  valuable  aertiona  of  the 
country,  wo  are  entitled  to  a  deduction  in  favor  of  the  work  under  oonaideration. 
The  rate  of  thia  may  be  obtained  from  the  example  of  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Kail- 
road,  the  land  damagca  on  which  amuiuited  to  92,842,47  per  mile.  We  will  apply 
thia  substraction  to  but  1600  miles  of  tho  prupoaed  work,  and  alao  strike  the  amount 
down   to  $2,500  a  mile,  to  make  a   smoother   computation.      Thus   we   have 

2,500  miloa  of  road  at  tho  rate  of  $26,000  per  mile,     $62,000,000 

A  deduction  of  $2,500  per  mile  from  1,500  milca,       3,750,000 


$58,250,000 
Making  an  aggregate  of  tifty-eight  millions  end  a  quarter  for  the  completion  of  a 
design  which  will  render  t  very  nation  on  the  globe  iur  commercial  tributaries  This, 
however,  is  a  most  extravagant  estimate,  and  the  coat  will  probably  not  amount  to 
within  several  millions  of  that  sum.  Tho  distance  is  very  roughly  calculated  from 
the  absence  of  accurate  information  on  tho  subject,  and  the  cost  is  purposely  amplified 
to  secure  being  on  the  safe  side  of  the  calculation.  We  arc  justified  in  the  opinion 
that  it  will  be  much  less,  by  the  fact  that  there  is  at  present  a  private  project  before 
Congress  which  proposes  to  perform  the  work  at  a  cost  of  $25,000,000,  on  the 
somewhat  modest  condition,  by  the  way,  of  receiving  a  grant  of  public  lands  sixty 
miles  in  width  along  the  track,  from  Illinois  to  the  Pacific  ocean. 

The  cost  of  the  work,  therefore,  even  though  it  should  amount  to  a  hundred  or  a 
hundred  and  fifty  millions,  is  no  argument  to  urge  against  the  undertaking,  for  it 
would  be  disgraceful  to  our  national  character  to  impute  to  government  an  inability 
to  carry  out  a  design  which  is  within  the  scope  and  means  of  a  company  of  private 
individuals.  The  resources  of  our  country  are  fully  equal  to  the  enterprise.  No 
patriot  believes,  no  statesman  daro  aflirm,  that  we  are  unable  to  sustain  the  expenses 
of  a  three  years'  war  with  the  most  powerful  nation  of  Europe  ;  yet  this  undertaking, 
at  its  utmost  estimate,  will  not  cost  as  much  as  a  three  years'  war,  and  instead  of 
leaving  us,  as  a  war  would  do,  enfeebled,  exhausted,  and  depressed,  its  completion 
would  find  us  regenerated  with  new  life,  with  our  impulses  awakened,  our  energies 
strengthened,  and  advancing  forward  with  a  rapidity  and  vigor  that  would  astonish 
even  Destiny  itself.  Let  us  deprecate,  therefore,  from  the  consideration  of  this 
work,  that  fatal  spirit  of  Economy  which  has  been  the  Evil  Genius  to  so  many  a 
great  design. 

Economy  is  the  besetting  sin  of  Representative  governments.  Deceived  by  its 
plausible  exterior,  and  tickled  with  the  notion  that  it  is  an  essential  element  of 
primitive  simplicity,  philosophers,  whose  mental  scope  reaches  no  further  than  the 
piling  up  of  particles  on  the  simplest  rule  of  simple  addition,  oppose  its  blighting 
influence  to  every  noble  scheme,  and  advocate  it  on  all  occasions  and  with  the 
utmost  vehemence  as  a  cardinal  principle.  They  do  not  see,  or  they  do  not  care  to 
see,  that  the  thrift  which  )ioards  the  seed  to  defeat  us  of  the  harvest,  is  the  grossest 
form  of  waste  ;  that  it  amuses  the  present  with  a  straw,  to  cheat  the  future  of  its 
golden  fields.  They  proceed  upon  the  false  idea,  that  the  multitude  more  readily 
appreciate  the  rule  that  saves  a  penny  now,  than  tho  design  which  subtracts  one 


fi8 


HltrORY  OF  OREGON. 


•  ']1 


:ni 


mr 


on  tho  hnzard  of  tlie  return  of  a  pound  hereafter ;  and  it  if  through  thii  corrupt  and 
contemptible  conaidprntiun,  this  pin-liook  angling  in  the  muddy  wateri  after  popu- 
larity, iliat  we  find  h  provniling  mfnnnets  in  all  our  nuiSBures  of  expenditure.  A 
mennneis  that  runs  from  tho  remuneration  of  tho  chief  mngistrate  of  tho  Union  to 
the  purchase  of  a  territory,  from  tho  starvation  of  an  Afrionn  lion,*  to  tho  preiien- 
tation  to  an  Imaun  of  a  piece  of  lac(|uernd  plate  ;t  till  at  length  it  degenerates  into 
injustice  and  dishonesty  in  its  disregard  of  the  rights  of  rcvolutionaiy  claimants, 
and  in  the  non  redemptions  of  the  continental  paper  which  gave  its  illusory  conoid- 
oration  for  th«  blood  of  ihnuaands  of  patriotic  hearts. 

A  suflTicicnt  amount  of  funds  can  be  obtained  for  the  commencement,  nay,  tho 
entire  rumpletion  of  the  whole  work,  from  tho  sales  of  the  public  lands  alone.  As 
suon  as  the  survey  is  made  and  the  route  laid  out,  tho  land  in  the  immediate  lino  of 
the  track  will  be  sought  with  the  utmost  eagerness  by  speculators,  for  investments  of 
their  capital.  It  will  rise  at  once  to  an  immense  value,  and  it  would  not  bo  extrava- 
gant to  expect  that  in  less  than  one  year  froii^the  marking  out  of  the  line,  more  than 
thirty  million  of  dollars  would  pour  into  the  treasury  of  the  Receiver  of  Sales.  Ad- 
ditional sales  could  then  be  made  as  tho  road  progressed,  to  a  still  bettor  advantage, 
and  before  the  completion  of  the  work,  the  Government  would  flnd  its  waste  domain 
of  unavailable  prairie  turned  as  if  by  magic  into  marketable  acres. 

The  road,  as  it  progressed,  would  bo  employed  up  to  tho  point  of  its  completion, 
by  our  merchants,  our  traders,  and  our  emigrants.  The  great  amount  of  trade  and 
travel,  which  sets  out  from  this  point,  (New  York,)  through  the  western  states  to 
the  Mississippi,  an^  returns  the  seme  way  back,  would  enable  it  to  go  very  fi\t  to- 
ward sustaining  its  own  existence. 

It  may  strike  some  as  superogatory  in  the  Government  to  undertake  this  work 
when  it  is  offered  to  be  accomplished,  and  all  its  consequent  advantages  secured  to 
our  hand,  by  private  enterprise  ;  but  there  are  many,  and  insurmountable  reasons 
why  it  should  be  a  national  undertaking,  and  not  left  at  the  mercy  of  a  band  of  spe- 
culators, whose  narrow  objects  would  be  private  gain. 

It  should  be  national,  because  its  objects  and  purposes  are  national ;  and  because 
its  accomplishment  will  advance  tho  glory  as  well  as  ensure  the  safety  of  our  coun- 
try, and  beneficially  affect  the  interests  of  all  its  citizens. 

Because  being  the  high  road  for  all  nations,  its  transactions  will  have  an  impor- 
tant bearing  upon  our  ''reign  relations,  and  its  regulations  will  consequently  bo 
govermental  in  their  nature  and  policy. 

Because  the  undertaking  is  too  gigantic  for  the  successful  enterprise  of  individuals, 
who,  if  ever  able  to  accomplish  it  at  all,  will  not  be  able  to  do  so  with  that  despatch, 
which  the  general  interests  of  the  country,  our  views  in  relation  to  Oregon,  and  the 
ardent  wishes  of  our  people  demand. 

Because  the  immense  revenues  arising  out  of  it,  and  the  wide  domain  accompany- 
ing the  grant,  (Whitney's  memorial  asks  for  a  strip  of  public  land  00  miles  in  width, 
from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Western  ocean,)  would  create  a  monopoly  liable  to  tho 
most,  dangerous  abuses.  From  the  "great  number  of  its  employees,  tho  numerous 
settlers  upon  its  lands,  most  of  whom  it  would  be  able  to  coerce,  and  its  enormous 
wealth,  it  would  grow  into  a  stupendous  power,  which,  if  not  capable  of  rivalling  the 
Government  itself,  might  at  any  rate,  exercise  such  a  control  by  these  combined  in- 
fluences over  Its  representation  in  Congress,  as  would  place  our  dearest  privileges 
at  its  disposal.  As  a  protection,  on  tho  other  hand,  against  a  perversion  of  its  pa- 
tronage by  the  Government,  wo  should  have  to  rely  on  the  honor,  the  purity,  and 

*  The  Emperor  of  Morocco  sent  us  tho  present  of  a  lion  of  tho  desert,  which,  after  its  arrival, 
barely  escaped  starvation  through  tho  humanity  of  a  showman,  who  subsequently  purchosed  it 
for  his  menagerie. 

fThe  Imaun  of  Muscat,  as  an  overture  for  a  commercial  arrangement,  sent  us  two  superb 
milk  white  Arabian  coursers,  with  a  slave  accompanying  each.  Wo  returiieil  among  other 
things,  a  row  boat  with  silver  ttlaUd  rowlocks.  The  pure  ore  would  not  have  cost  a  hundred 
dollars  more. 


Wi 


HISTORY   or  OREGON. 


50 


patriotintn  of  our  Preiidonti ;  a  fiinrantcn  Momewhnt  mora  lubttintinl  it  muit  b« 
•dmilted,  ihnn  the  cupidity  of  individiiali. 

BccauaR,  the  object  of  a  Democracy,  while  it  lecuroi  to  Enterprise  and  Talent, 
their  rnwnrdi,  is  to  cqiinliae  the  unnofit*  of  hoaren  to  nil,  and  the  act  which  would 
avowedly  confer  apecial  facilitioi  for  the  amastmont  of  onormoua  wealth  on  any  body 
of  men,  is  in  derogation  of  its  own  comprehensive  scheme,  A  bounteous  Providene* 
has  made  the  productions  of  the  earth  equal  to  the  wants  of  all  its  creatures,  and  it 
is  a  demonitrablo  rulo  that  every  usurpation  of  an  excess  is  followed  in  tome  quar- 
ter by  a  corresponding  loss.  This  tendency,  through  the  peculiar  construction  of 
society,  cannot  be  helped  at  present,  nor  can  it  be  corrected  in  a  day,  but  it  is  in- 
cumbent upon  us,  whom  a  wise  director  has  delegated  to  work  out  a  system  for  the 
elevation  of  mankind,  to  interpose  no  obstacle  to  its  consummation,  by  specially 
encouraging  an  infraction  of  the  plan. 

The  first  results  uf  a  private  grant  of  the  nature  of  the  one  proposed  t^  the  last 
Congress,  would  doubtless  be  as  follows  :  As  soon  as  the  route  had  been  surveyed, 
maps  would  be  prepared,  dividing  the  whole  into  ser :  ions  for  sale.  Then  t  formal, 
and  ostentatious  opening  of  the  rond  would  follow.  A  vast  collei  .ion  of  people 
would  gather  together  to  see  the  show,  and  amid  the  thunder  of  cannon,  the  waving 
of  colours,  and  the  swell  of  martial  music,  some  public  spirited  g  ntleman  would 
strike  a  spade  into  the  ground  while  the  wild  huzzas  of  .he  admiri"  ,  multitude  ould 
make  the  welkin  ache  again. 

This  herculean  effort  ovdr,  the  company,  after  staving  in  the  heads  of  a  *■  ■  v  oairela 
of  beer  to  whet  the  whistles  of  the  crowd,  would  retire  to  a  sumptuous  din  .e;  to  de- 
vise plans  anew,  and  to  felicitate  tjiemselves  over  the  vast  p  >  ^^tages  they  had 
cozened  from  the  Government.*  From  that  lime  out,  their  afeniic  i  would  be  de- 
voted entirely  to  land  speculations.  The  maps  would  be  industriously  circulated, 
and  adopting  te  their  use  the  science  of  pufTing,  newspapers  would  teem  with  glowing 
rnprescntaiions  to  attract  the  attention  of  purchasers.  The  domain  parcelled  out 
by  the  company,  would  be  described,  on  account  of  its  facilities  for  transferring  the 
produce  of  its  fertility  f.'om  ocean  to  ocean,  as  the  golden  belt  of  the  continent. 
Speculators  would  rush  to  make  investments  of)  their  capital  ai  1  undeterred  by  the 
exorbitant  advance  from  day  to  day  in  price,  the  poor  man  would  hasten  with  the 
tribute  of  his  hard  won  gains  to  cast  a  golden  anchor  in  the  future.  After  this 
course  of  things  had  been  pursued  long  enough  to  swell  the  pockets  of  the  company 
with  a  plethera  of  millions,  we  should  have  no  stronger  guarantee  than  what  cxista 
in  the  failability  of  man  that  the  work  ever  would  be  prosecuted.  The  whole  result 
would  be,  that  the  company  who  had  simply  assumed  for  a  time  the  United  States 
ownership  of  the  public  lands  (for  none  but  tii  <rt,y  mile  strip  would  sell  during 
this  delusion)  would  good  naturedly  pocket  Thr  f'  pie's  money  till  they  fell  off  from 
very  surfeit ;  and  then,  declaring  themselves  incapable,  for  want  of  means,  of  carry- 
ing out  the  objects  of  the  gram,  they  would  either  sell  out  their  privileges  to  others, 
or  Government,  impelled  by  the  complah  fs  and  distresses  of  those  who  had  been 
their  victims,  would  have  to  complete  tbe  object  after  all  herself. 

But  supposing  their  intentions  u  bo  sincere  and  their  measures  for  the  immediate 
commencement  of  the  work  earnest,  there  is  yet  another  consideration  against  it 
outweighing  all  the  res^  As  soon  as  the  grant  was  made,  plans  would  be  drawn 
out,  and  one  of  the  directors  despatched  to  London  (as  in  the  present  cas«  of  Von 
Jos6  de  Garay  in  relation  to  the  ship  canal  through  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec)  to 
solicit  the  aid  of  British  capitalists  to  sustain  the  work.  Its  importance  would  at 
once  strike  all,  and  perhaps  attract  the  attention  of  the  British  government  itself,  and 
under  the  direction  of  her  wily  minister,  funds  might  be  placed  in  private  hands  for 
purchases  of  stock.     At  any  rate,  there  can  bo  but  little  doubt  that  tho  stock  would 

'  It  must  b(!  borne  in  mind  that  tliese  observations  though  based  on  the  provisions  of  Whit- 
ney's ])roposa1,  arc  merely  suppositive  against  its  theory,  and  are  by  no  means  meant  as  an  im- 
putation of  his  intentions,  or  a  reflection  on  his  character. 


60 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


■!    It 

T 
1  -J 
t»1 


tA\  rnpidly  be  taken  up,  and  the  result  would  be,  that  British  stockholders,  and  pw 
haps  the  British  government  itself,  would  control  the  whole  enterprise.  It  an  any 
rate  would  afford  her  a  pretext  for  interference  on  the  score  of  protecting  the  pro- 
perty of  her  subjects.  This  principle  has  already  been  vociferously  claimed  for  her 
by  many  of  the  creditors  of  our  non-paying  states,  and  the  probability  is,  that  in  a 
matter  of  such  vital  import  to  her  as  this,  it  would  ripen  i  ito  a  governmental  assump- 
tion. In  short,  the  necessary  consequence  of  any  private  company  must  be,  the  in- 
troduction into  our  very  bosom  a  foreign  influence  that  will  pierce  our  continent 
from  shore  to  shore,  and,  in  a  double  sense,  divide  our  happy  land. 

Lastly,  it  should  be  national,  because  its  vast  revenues  would  not  only  enable  the 
Government,  after  paying  off"  the  cost,  to  relieve  the  oountry  of  the  burden  of  almost 
every  tax,  whether  impost  or  otherwise,  but  afford  a  surplus,  which  might  be  expend- 
ed to  advantage  in  the  gradual  increase  of  the  navy,  and  in  strengthening  our  sea* 
board  and  harbor  defences  to  a  state  amounting  to  impregnability. 

Having  settled  the  feasibility  of  the  work,  both  as  to  geographical  facility  and  as  to 
means  of  defraying  the  cost,  the  next  thing  to  be  considered  is  the  Time  necessary 
for  its  completion  ;  and  though  our  arrangement  brings  this  third  in  order,  it  is  alto- 
gether first  in  importance. 

The  time  allowed  for  its  completion  should  be  limited  to  five  years,  in  which  peri- 
od it  could  as  easily  be  accomplished  by  the  energies  of  our  government,  as  it  could 
in  twenty -five ! 

If  20,000  men*  can  complete  500  miles  a  year,  there  is  no  good  reason  why  the 
result  should  be  delayed  to  bestow  the  monopoly  of  the  labor  on  5000  who  can  only 
perform  125  miles  in  the  same  time. 

Our  country  is  as  capable  of  a  great  effort  as  a  mean  one,  and  we  have  a  right 
to  expect  one  worthy  of  her  genius  and  character.  We  repeat  that  time  is  the 
great  object !  A  series  of  rapidly  developing  political  events  prove  that  the  antago- 
nistic principles  of  liberty  and  feudalism  are  fast  approaching  their  (inal  struggle. 
Alarmed  at  our  astonishing  progress,  the  monarchical  governments  of  Europe  are 
preparing  to  bring  their  centralized  force  to  bear  upon  the  genius  of  Republicanism, 
and  when  the  collision  takes  place,  we,  as  the  grand  promoter  and  defender  of  the 
latter,  will  have  to  sustain  the  whole  brunt  of  the  shock.  Let  us,  therefore,  arm 
ourselves  against  the  crisis  in  time  !  Let  us  extend  our  communications  across  our 
CAuntry's  length  and  breadth ;  secure  the  possession  of  the  points  that  will  ena* 
ble  us  to  protect  the  interests  of  our  commerce  in  both  oceans  aivd  the  East,  and 
assume  a  position  worthy  of  the  champion  of  the  ^vorld's  emancipation. 

As  many  men  should  be  employed  upon  the  work  as  is  possible  to  be  obtained, 
even  if  the  number  run  up  to  20,000,  or  should  go  even  beyond  that.  This  would 
furnish  employment  to  all  the  languishing  labor  of  the  great  cities,  and  force,  by  the 
gradual  progress  of  the  road,  an  immense  mechanical  and  laboring  population  into 
Oregon.  This  result  would  of  itself  peaceably  settle  our  title  against  the  world, 
and  obviate  entirely  any  necessity  of  further  negotiation  or  force.  These  artizans 
and  laborers  having  long  been  in  the  receipt  of  wages  which  they  have  been  obliged 
to  hoard,  would,  by  the  time  they  arrived  in  that  distant  territory,  be  possessed  of  a 
handsome  competence,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  government  bounty  to  settlers, 
become  at  once  substantial  landed  proprietors,  whose  patriotism  and  obedience  to 
the  laws,  would  be  securely  guaranteed  by  their  interest  in  the  soil.  Our  govern- 
ment in  exchange  for  its  eastern  substratum  of  suffering  population,  would  find  ita 
broad  and  fertile  western  territories  sprinkled  with  hamlets,  and, owning  a  class  of 
intelligent  and  happy  husbandmen,  who  would  be  the  chief  pride,  boast,  and  de- 
pendence of  the  country. 

*  This  number  ii  not  offered  as  a  portion  of  the  rule  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  work 
within  the  specified  time.  If,  however,  a  larger  number  of  workmen  t*":.!  ihe  above  could  be 
obtained,  and  paid,  and  the  work  completed  in  a  stUUess  time  than  five  years,  so  much  the 
better  f  jr  every  tutereit  concerned,  i 


[VJj    I 


HISTORY  OF  ORSnOIV. 


61 


These  settlements  wonid  be  formed,  in  great  part,  by  the  artizans  and  workers 
on  the  road,  who  having  built  temporary  habitations  for  themselves  and  families  in 
the  neighborhood  of  their  work,  and  foreseeing  that  for  years  to  come  they  would 
reap  a  rich  harvest  for  their  agricultural  labors  in  the  wants  of  the  immense  army 
of  pioneers  who  had  gone  before,  and  afterward  in  the  markets  of  the  Pacific, 
would  yield  to  the  love  for  a  stationary  home  and  the  dignity  of  independent  own- 
ership, by  settling  permanently  in  every  fertile  portion  of  the  road- side.  The  places 
of  those  who  thus  dropped  out  of  the  line  would  be  supplied  by  the  new  emigrant, 
whom  the  increased  price  of  labor  in  our  Atlantic  cities  would  have  enticed  to  our 
shores,  and  thus  the  generous  spirit  of  the  enterprise  would  go  on,  redeeming  man 
after  man  from  the  abasement  of  ill-requif<"l  servitude  into  the  majesty  and  perfec- 
tion of  human  nature — lord  of  the  land,  and  with  no  master  but  his  God. 

The  price  of  labor  in  our  great  cities  would  be  progressive  from  the  commenco- 
ment  of  the  work  to  its  completion  ;  and  thus  would  be  drawn  from  capitalists  a 
portion  of  their  hoards  for  its  beneficial  diffusion  throughout  all  classes  of  the  com- 
munity, ^hs  rights  of  labor  would  be  vindicated  by  the  enforcement  of  a  more 
equal  division  of  its  returns  between  it  and  its  mercantile  deputies,  and  a  great  step 
would  be  taken  towards  elevating  it  to  its  true  importanee  in  the  social  scale.  The 
annual  drain  of  population  to  the  interior,  and  the  new  direction  to  be  given  to  it 
south,  would  at  the  same  time  reduce  landed  property  nearer  to  its  true  level,  and 
modify  that  last  remnant  of  feudalism,  the  landlord's  power,  into  a  bearable  evil. 
These  two  influences  combined,  will  do  more  at  a  stroke  to  elevate  the  condition  of 
the  masses,  to  check  the  fatal  tendency  to  a  division  of  interests  and  distinction  of 
castes  as  in  the  old  world  ;  to  divide  the  national  domain  among  the  people,  and 
thus  consummate  the  original  scheme  of  the  creation,  than  all  the  agrarian  laws, 
8t>cial  chimeras,  and  visionary  legislation  could  in  centuries  ! 

Here  we  bring  our  inquiry  to  a  close.  We  have,  in  the  first  place,  made  a  satis- 
factory examination  of  our  title  to  Oregon  ;  in  the  second,  proved  the  capabilities 
of  that  region  for  suppoiting  a  numerous  population  ;  in  the  third,  examined  the 
facilities  which  are  offered  for  easy  communication  between  it  and  the  States,  and 
in  the  fourth,  we  have  established  the  perfect  practicability  of  a  rail-road  to  and 
through  It,  and  following  out  the  examination  of  this  feature  of  our  subject,  we  have 
glanced  at  the  most  obvious  of  the  advantages  that  will  be  aeeomplished  through  its 
agency.  In  conclusion,  we  repeat  that  the  earliest  practicable  time  should  be 
adopted  to  carry  out  the  design.  While  France  and  Mexico  meditate  the  segrega- 
tion of  the  continent,  and  while  England  is  despatching  another  squadron  to  the 
Arctic  sea,  we  certainly  are  called  upon  to  inquire  at  least,  by  an  actual  survey,, 
whether  we  have  not  within  the  bosom  of  our  own  territoiies,  superior  facilities  for 
accomplishing  the  same  grand  purpose  which  impelii  them.  The  immediate  com- 
mencement of  the  work  itself,  would  not  conflict  witu  any  treaty  stipulation,  nor 
could  it  justly  give  umbrage  to  any  other  power,  and  h>  addition  to  afTordiiig  a 
pledge  to  The  People  of  the  sincerity  of  the  Government's  intentions  towards  Ore- 
gon, the  actual  prosecution  of  the  measure  would  defeat  the  British  jugglers  in 
their  design  of  circumventing  our  rights  by  protracted  negotiation. 

Let  them  negotiate  and  let  us  work,  and  while  they  are  mousing  through  the 
pages  ofBynckershoeck  ant:  PuffendorfT  in  cabinet  caucauses,  and  solemn  diploma- 
tists are  exchanging  assurances  of  profound  consideration,  thousands  of  our  hardy 
citizens  will  keep  pouring  though  the  gaps  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  grave  dispute,  be  smoking  their  pipes  in  every  fertile  nook  in 
Oregon. 

The  rail  road  is  the  Great  Negotiator,  which  alone  can  settle  our  title  more 
conclusively,  than  all  the  diplomatists  in  the  world. 

Aside  from  the  considerations  of  national  aggrandisement,  this  project  is  war- 
ranted as  a  measure  of  political  economy  which  makes  its  appeal  directly  to  the 


62 


HISTORT  OF  OREGON. 


■■■■I  Wf 


heart  of  every  philanthropist.  It  would  be  a  benefaction  to  the  oppressed  masses 
that  would  come  with  a  peculiar  graco  from  a  parental  government  to  its  suffering 
children,  and  in  addition  to  its  being  a  measure  for  their  gradual  elevation  and  re- 
lief, it  would  also  be  an  evidence,  that  among  all  the  chartered  privileges  lavished 
time  and  again  upon  the  rich,  the  government  could  find  it  in  its  heart  to  make  at 
least  one  charter  for  the  poor. 

Lastly,  if  the  magnetic  telegraph  should  be  added  to  this  comprehensive  scheme, 
where  shall  calculation  look  for  the  limits  of  its  vast  results  ?  Basing  our  conclu- 
sions upon  our  wonderful  advance  in  the  present  century,  it  is  no  extravagance  to 
predict  that  in  less.than  fifty  years,  we  shall  behold  in  our  beloved  country  a  govern- 
ment, holding  the  preponderance  of  power,  owning  a  population  of  a  hundred  mil- 
lions, with  a  central  capital  in  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  commanding 
from  its  nucleus  of  power  an  electric  communication  over  three  millions  of  square 
miles,  and  dLf<.a!ng  its  congregated  science,  art,  philosophy,  enterprise  and  intelli- 
gence ;  its  enlarged  spirit  of  liberty,  philanthropy,  peace  and  good  will,  to  the  utter- 
most ends  of  the  earth  in  a  fullness  that  will  realize  at  last  the  fondest  dreams  of 
the  millenium! 

Arouse  then,  America,  and  obey  the  mandate  which  Destiny  has  imposed  upon 
you  for  the  redemption  of  a  world  !  Send  forth  upon  its  mighty  errand,  the  spirit  of 
enfranchised  man  ;  nor  let  it  pause  until  it  bears  down  every  barrier  of  unrighteous 
power;  till  it  enlarges  the  boundaries  of  freedom  to  the  last  meridian,  and  spreads 
its  generous  influence  from  pole  to  pole ! 


i 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON. 


63 


PART  II. 


TRAVELS 
ACROSS    THE    GREAT    WESTERN    PR.\IRIES    AND    THROUGH 

OREGON: 


With  a  description  of  the  line  of  route,  and  the  distances  between  the 

intermediate  points  from  Missouri  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.     Also, 

afull  description  of  the  characteristics,  capabilitiesand  present  • 

condition  of  the  North  Western  Territory,  prepared 

from  the  Journal  of  a  member  of  the  recently 

organised 

OREGON   LEGISLATURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 


TJie  Start— Arrival  at  the  Rendezvous — The  Features  of  the  Gathering — The 
Rival  Fat  Gentlemen — The  humors  of  an  Evening  in  the  Camp. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  the  object  in  view,  tliat  the  writer  of  this  journal  should 
fninish  the  reason  which  induced  him  to  turn  his  face  towards  the  wilderness.  Let 
it  suffice  that  on  the  morning  of  the  ITth  May,  1843,  I,  (to  drop  the  third  person,) 
mounted  my  horse  in  Independence,  Missouri,  and  set  out  for  the  general  rendez- 
vous. This  was  situated  in  a  little  spot  about  twenty  miles  distant,  in  a  south-east 
direction.  I  did  not  start  alone.  A  family  of  the  name  sf  Robbins,  from  the 
northern  part  of  Pennsylvania,  were  my  companions.  This  party  consisted  of  a  hus- 
band and  wife,  two  chubby  boys,  one  six  and  the  other  eight  years  of  age,  and  a 
bouncing  baby  of  eighteen  months,  or  thereabouts. 

After  having  examine'd  for  the  twentieth  time  if  all  the  necessaries  requited  for 
the  journey  were  properly  stowed  in  the  wagon,  anti  after  having  for  the  last  time, 
jerked  at  a  trace,  settled  this  and  that  portion  of  the  harness,  looked  under  the 
horses,  passed  his  hand  over  the  near  one's  llank,  and  walked  completely  around  the 
whole  concern,  John  Robbins  mounted  his  seat;,  gave  a  sonorous  ahem  !  in  evidence 
of  his  complete  satisfaction,  and  describing  a  preparatary  circle  with  his  lash,  was 
about  bringing  it  down  on  the  backs  of  his  team,  when  a  little  circumstance  in  the 
body  of  the  wagou  interrupted  his  purpose,  and  softened  the  threatening  sweep  of 
the  gad  into  an  oblique  flourish,  that  spent  its  elegance  in  a  faint  snap  near  the 
ground. 

He  had  turned  his  head  for  the  twenty-first  time  to  see  th^t  all  was  right  iu  the 
canvass  domicile  behind,  when  he  disoirned  that  Mrs  Robbins  was  yielding  to  the 
weakness  of  her  bosom  at  the  separation  of  the  last  link  that  bound  her  to  the  asso- 
ciations of  early  youth,  and  to  the  ties  of  friends  and  home.  The  husband  kissed  away 
the  tears  that  were  tumbling  over  her  full  and  rosy  cheek,  s^oke  a  wrrl  of  encour- 
agement in  her  ear,  and  then,  with  a  moistened  eye  himself,  turned  hastily  to  his 
place,  brought  the  whip  sharply  down,  set  his  features  as  rigid  as  a  uecemvir's,  and 
rattled  off  at  a  pace  that  soon  jolted  off  every  vestige  of  sadness  or  depres- 
sion, amid  the  cheers  of  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  well-wishers,  who  had  gathered 
to  see  us  off,  and  whose  benizons  floated  after  us  upon  the  air,  as  if  they  were  un- 
willing to  resign  this  living  evidence  of  their  continual  guardianship. 

The  morning  was  magnificent.  The  soft  fresh  breeze  was  both  bracing  and  bland, 
and  the  sun  poured  down  his  brightness,  with  such  superior  glory,  that  his  rays 
seemed  to  stream  through  our  very  hearts,  and  to  change  every  doubt  and  dark  fore* 
bodmg  into  cheerful  hope.   As  I  gazed  out  upon  thai  lovely  landscape,  and  saw  every 


64 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON. 


%. 


bladn  and  leaf  quivering  in  gold,  I  ceased  to  wonder  that  the  savage  turned  his  face 
abuve  to  look  for  God. 

Our  course,  as  I  remarked  before,  lay  south  west,  along  the  Santa  Fe  trail.  After 
we  had  proceeded  on  our  way  for  about  three  hours,  the  fresh  morning  air  served  its 
challenge  on  our  appetites,  and  wo  made  a  h»lt  in  answer  to  its  summons.  In  com- 
pliment to  the  smooth  green  sward,  tho  Robbins'  family  tumbled  out  of  the  wagon 
and  spread  iheir  cloth  upon  it.  Then  followed  the  tin  cups  and  tin  plates,  and  then 
the  edibles.  Of  the  lust,  we  made  most  speedy  disposal.  Mrs.  Robbins  had  re- 
covered from  her  momentary  depression,  and  was  now  chatting  away  in  high  glee, 
only  pausing  occasionally,  to  tickle  tho  baby  in  the  neck,  to  knead  its  stomach  with 
her  fists,  or  to  roll  it  over  and  over  on  the  grass.  The  two  boys  had  left  the  meal 
with  their  cheeks  yet  full,  and  were  now  scampering  away  after  each  other  in  a  race 
over  the  fields,  while  one  other  member  of  the  party,  whom  I  must  apologise  for 
having  overlooked,  sat  beside  the  hearty  John  Robins,  looking  like  the  impersona- 
tion  of  Gravity  itself  This  was  a  large  white  dog,  named  Jack,  who  I  understood 
had  long  been  a  member  of  the  family.  He  appeared  to  perfectly  understand  his 
social  position,  for  though  there  was  no  evidenceof  improper  levity  in  his  character, 
or  any  indication  of  intemperate  importunity  in  his  manner,  one  might  see  by  the 
decided  cock  of  his  head,  and  the  equally  decided  interest  he  bestowed  upon  every 
movement  of  John  Robbin's  knife  and  fork,  that  he  knew  his  rights  to  a  hair.  His 
calculations  were  not  disappointed,  and  his  lunch  finishing  the  meal,  I  mounted  my 
horse,  the  Robbins  stowed  themselves  away  under  the  canvass  canopy,  and  off  w« 
jogged  once  more,  to  the  great  delight  of  Jack,  who  went  gamboling  away  be- 
fore us. 

We  had  not  proceeded  far  before  we  were  met  by  a  wagon  returning  from  the 
rendezvous  to  Independence. 

"  Hallo,  sMangers  !  bound  for  the  encampment  1"  shouted  a  voice  from  the  box. 

"  Yes  ;  are  we  far  away  1" 

'•  A^iut  three  mile.  You'll  find  a  nice  party  there.  We're  only  goin'  back  to 
Independence  for  some  articles  we  forgot,  an'l  then  we're  with  you  !     Good  day." 

In  about  an  hour  we  arrived  at  the  rendezvous,  or  encampment,  as  our  roadside 
friends  had  called  it.  We  found  there  already  over  three  hundred  people  preparing 
for  one  of  the  most  arduous  trips  ever  undertaken  in  modern  times.  About  fifty  wag- 
ons were  arranged  in  a  huge  semi-circle,  in  the  centre  of  which  little  groups  were 
busying  themselves  in  the  usual  occupations  of  life,  while  others  were  whiling  away 
the  hours  in  idle  conversation.  Here  a  smith  was  tinkering  at  a  rivet,  there  a 
female  bustled  over  her  domestic  pots  and  pan^;  in  one  quarter  an  artisan  was 
engaged  in  mending  a  shaft  or  resetting  a  wagon  top,  while  in  another,  a  hardy 
huntsman  was  rubbing  up  his  rifle.  Numerous  herds  of  cattle  browsed  about  the 
plain,  while  the  horses  reaped  their  harvest  of  the  generous  herbage  within  the  cir- 
cle of  their  tether.  All  the  concomitants  of  civilization  were  there,  yet  so  intermixed 
with  savage  instances,  as  to  startle  the  observer  at  the  social  hybrid.  There  was 
something  in  the  unusual  scene  and  its  object,  >hat  challenged  the  reflection  and 
led  the  mind  off  in  its  own  despite,  in  search  for  the  causes  that  induced  it.  Curi- 
osity asked  why  a  large  body  of  human  beings,  possessed  of  a  fair  share  of  the  com- 
forts of  life,  should  renounce,  of  their  own  accord,  all  the  advantages  of  society,  and 
submit  to  a  voluntary  banishment  in  a  region  of  which  they  had  only  heard  by 
rumor,  and  that  was  almost  beyond  the  bounds  of  civil  life  ?  Why,  with  vast  plains 
before  them,  offering  the  most  bounteous  fertility  to  the  lightest  summons  of  the 
husbandman  ;  possessing  a  certain  climate,  and  promising  assured  comfort ;  asking 
no  purchase  but  those  of  the  ploughshare  and  the  spade,  they  chose  rather  a  toil- 
some pilgrimage  and  the  uncertain  perils  of  an  almost  unknown  route,  to  seek  the 
same  advantages  in  the  extremity  of  the  continent .'  It  certainly  was  not  from  mis- 
anthropy, for  the  very  manner  of  the  enterprise  denied  it ;  they  were  not  flying  from 
the  persecutions  of  intolerance  and  bigotry ;  neither  were  they  the  victims  of  ill 
balanced  laws,  but  they  were  obeying  that  restless  impulse  of  ambition  which  Li- 
berty implants  and  fosters,  and  which  displays  itself  in  a  passion  for  experiment  and 
adventure.  This  spirit,  which  has  imparted  to  us  energies  that  have  astonished  the 
world,  and  still  puzzle  the  monarchies  of  Europe,  has  spread  its  effects  from  the 
Atlantic  even  thus  far  into  the  wilderness ;  it  is  now  directing  the  movements  of 
this  enterprise,  and  stamps  it  as  the  first  sign  of  the  enlargement  of  the  boundaries 
of  Freedom  to  the  western  ocean.  Liberty  and  enterprise  are  inseperable  qualities, 
and  were  it  not  for  the  obstacle  of  inadequate  means  of  travtl,  no  corner  of  our 
country  would  be  left  unpeopled. 

We  were  received  on  our  entrance  with  a  shout  of  welcome,  and  as  we  drove  in 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON. 


65 


re  in 


a  dozen  busy  hands  were  instantly  lent  to  assist  ns  in  arranging  the  disposal  of  our 
articles.  Our  wagon  was  drawn  to  a  proper  spot,  our  horses  were  watered  and 
staked,  Mrs.  Robl)iiis  was  introduced  to  Mrs.  Smith  and  Mrs.  Harris;  the  liiile 
Rohbinses  received  the  overtures  of  the  juvenile  Bakers  and  Browns,  and  Jack 
followed  suit  by  making  oioiit  decided  advances  to  a  liandsLme  terrier  bitch,  who 
was  doing  the  atniable  in  a  series  of  cavortings  that  would  have  been  most  de« 
lightful  for  any  lovsr  of  natural  philosophy  to  see. 

As  this  was  also  my  lirst  visit  to  the  rendezvous,  I  was  received  in  like  manner, 
and  some  acquaintances  whom  I  had  made  a  few  days  before  in  the  town  of  Inde- 
pendence, came  forward  to  welcome  me  and  to  show  me  the  ins  and  outs  of  the 
encampment. 

"  H'ar  you,  sir !  H'ar  you  !"  was  the  greeting  which,  accompanied  by  hearty 
and  earnest  grasps  of  the  hand,  met  me  on  all  sides,  and  in  the  course  of  half  an 
hour  I  had  become  acquainted  with  two  thirds  of  the  whole  party.  Among  otiiers, 
I  was  introduced  to  a  fat  old  gentleman  in  a  round  jacket  and  very  short  pair  of 
corduroys,  responding  to  the  name  of  McFarley,  and  who,  by  the  way,  aspired -to 
the  command  of  the  enterprise.  Another  fat  old  gentleman  named  Dumberton  was 
also  introduced  to  me,  who  was  McFarley 's  rival  for  the  chieftianship.  He  had  the 
advantage  of  the  latter,  however,  in  a  face  of  aldermanic  redness,  and  likewise  in  a 
long-tailed  snufT  colored  coat. 

This  latter  gentleman,  immediately  on  taking  my  hand,  informed  me  that  he  came 
from  "East  Tennessee,  al  a  place  high  up  on  Big  Pidgeon,  near  Kit  Bullard's 
mill ;"  and  then  feeling  convinced  that  it  was  quite  unnecessary  to  take  any  further 
measure  to  secure  my  profound  respect,  threw  his  head  on  one  side,  and  waited 
for  his  communication  to  produce  its  ef!ect. 

Dumberton,  or  the  Captain,  as  he  was  called,  had  the  advantage  of  McFarley  in 
several  other  points.  I  have  already  mentioned  the  superior  contrast  of  the  snuflF- 
colourcd  coat  with  the  round  jacket,  and  I  might  also  havo  alluded  to  the  sub- 
stantial claims  of  a  pantaloons  of  the  same  color  in  opposition  to  the  me"':  preten- 
sions of  the  corduroys;  but  the  great  superiority  of  the  Captain  laid  chiefly  in  a 
profuse  shock  of  siifTgray  hair,  which,  being  contrasted  with  the  rich  crimson  of  his 
countenance,  and  further  set  off  by  the  white  of  his  neck  cloth,  rendered  his  appear- 
ance imposing  to  a  degree.  Besides,  his  home  department  had  a  most  superlative 
curve,  while  McFarley's,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  sudden  projection,  which  looked 
as  if  he  had  just  bolted  the  hump  of  a  bufTalo,  and  from  its  absolute  abruptness, 
conveyed  no  idea  of  dignity  at  all.  McFarley  made  up  for  these  natural  disadvan- 
tages, however,  by  industry,  perseverance,  and  superior  tact,  which  being  opposed 
to  the  Captain's  natural  gifis,  about  balanced  the  materiel  of  the  struggle. 

The  last  of  these  remarkable  gentlemen  running  one  of  the  sleeves  of  his 
snuff- colored  coat  through  my  arm,  fairly  took  me  prisoner,  and  turned  mc  off  in 
the  direction  of  a  neighboring  cluster  of  trees,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  my  influ- 
ence in  his  own  favor,  and  in  opposition  to  his  opponent.  It  is  impossible  to  de- 
scribe McFarley's  face,  at  this  attempt  of  the  other  to  make  capital  at  his  expense  ; 
suffice  it,  it  outblushed  his  rival's,  and  his  teeth  were  set  in  fierce  determination. 
He  was  not  long  at  a  loss  for  an  expedient  to  interrupt  the  Captain's  design,  for  he 
bribed  a  boy  to  tell  me  "  my  horse  had  run  a  spike  in  his  foot,  and  that  Mr.  Rob- 
bins  wanted  to  see  me  at  once."  This  was  as  great  a  relief  to  me,  as  it  was  a 
comfort  to  Mr.  McFarley,  for  fat  man  the  first  had  just  commenced  some  dispDra- 
ging  reflections  upon  fat  man  the  second,  that  I  could  not  have  listened  to  without 
compromising  the  neutrality  of  my  position. 

I  had  four  men  who  had  linked  their  interests  with  mine,  and  who  had  put  them- 
selves under  my  special  direction.  They  were  still  at  Independence,  and  I  did  not 
expect  them  till  the  afternoon  of  the  foljswing  day,  when  they  were  to  bring  along 
our  common  team,  cattle,  wagons  and  "  fixins."  For  want,  therefore,  of  anything 
to  do,  I  lent  a  hand  to  Robbins,  iu  getting  up  his  tent,  and  setting  his  things  to 
rights.  The  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  in  making  acquaintances,  and  project- 
ing arrangements  for  future  guidance,  a  precaution  which  I  considered  by  no  means 
unnecessary,  now  that  I  had  discovered  that  the  struggles  of  selfishness  were  likely 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  to  agitate  our  little  community.  I  should  not  omit  to 
mention  here,  that  I  was  also  introduced  this  afternoon  to  Mr.  Peter  H.  Burnet, 
who  was  subsequently  made  captain  of  the  expedition. 

After  the  evening  had  set  in,  I  laid  down  in  the  wagon  of  an  acquaintance,  and 
overcome  with  fatigue,  soon  fell  asleep.  An  hour  could  not  have  elapsed,  however, 
before  I  started  .wide  awake.  While  I  lay  endeavoring  to  recover  my  disturbed 
repose,  I  had  a  chance  to  hear  how  my  neighbors  were  disposing  of  their  time.     In 

5 


m 


4 


96 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


one  direction  the  sound  of  a  violin  rasped  the  air;  in  another,  a  little  farther  otf, 
the  mellow  wnrble  of  a  flute  stole  softly  on  the  night ;  while  hard  by  my  ear,  a 
harmonious  voice  poured  forth  a  measure  of  reproach  to  the 

"  False  hearted  Jane  Lom'so." 

Unable  to  sleep,  and  desirous  of  taking  a  share  in  the  enjoyment,  I  arose  and 
went  forth,  and  approaching  the  tent  from  which  the  last  pathetic  strain  had  issued, 
peeped  into  its  centre.  It  whs  filled  with  a  motley  group,  who  appeared  to  have 
given  themselves  up  to  the  last  degree  of  merriment.  In  the  rear,  on  a  huge  trunk, 
which  was  used  as  a  table,  sat  two  bottles,  and  a  corpulent  little  jug,  all  of  them, 
doubtless,  contributions  from  ditferent  members  of  the  company.  On  the  right  hand 
of  this  imposing  platform,  sat  McFartey,  and  on  the  left,  honest  John  Robbina,  with 
dog  Jack  between  his  legs,  who  was  looking,  if  possible,  graver  than  ever.  Behind, 
and  mounted  on  a  high  seat,  made  by  a  trunk  turned  endwise,  with  a  flask  m  hi» 
hand,  and  his  hat  cocked  gaily  into  an  cxirems  angle,  sat  the  ruling  spirit  of  the 
party.  He  was  one  of  those  peculiar  geniuses  whom  Nature  by  the  gift  of  a  rich 
fund  of  humor  and  invincible  gaiety  marks  for  a  practical  philanthropist.  In  his  owr> 
way,  Jim  Wayne  was  the  source  of  more  re-'t  pleasure  and  enjoyment,  by  his 
inimitable  drolleries,  during  the  long  journey  which  followed,  than  any  dozen  other 
causes  put  together.  His  songs  were  sung  by  the  whole  camp ;  his  stories  were 
told  over  and  over,  for  the  edification  and  amusement  of  every  sub-circle,  and 
wherever  he  went,  his  presence  of  itself,  appeared  to  possess  galvanic  power,  which 
operated  immediately  in  distending  the  muscles  of  every  face. 

"  Gentlemen  !"  said  Wayne,  at  the  conclusion  of  his  dittv,  with  an  air  of  impres- 
sive solemnity,  "it  is  my  painful  duty  to  communicate  to  you  my  apprehensions, 
that  we  have  an  individual  among  us  of  the  most  suspicious  character ;  an  individual, 
who,  so  far  from  entering  into  our  proceedings  with  that  def  .J  of  hilarity  and  good- 
fellowship  which  are  the  guarantees  of  honest  intentions,  has  preserved  a  dogged 
silence,  and  has  moreover  given  more  than  one  indication  that  he  is  incapable  of 
appreciating  the  sentiment  of  our  enlightened  proceedings  ;  in  short,  gentlemen,  he  is 
a  creature,  as  a  man  may  say,  without  a  soul.  Gentle.Tien,"  continued  the  speaker, 
after  the  buzz  of  surprize  and  rapid  scrutiny  which  sweptt  he  circle  from  man  to 
man,  upon  this  startling  communication,  was  over,  "gentleman,  the  nature  of  our 
enterprize,  the  peculiarity  of  our  situation,  demands  our  utmost  care,  and  I  appeal 
to  your  intelligence,  if  an  individual  be  found  in  this  company,  guilty  of  the  demeanor 
I  have  charged  him  with,  shall  he  not  forthwith  be  summoned  before  this  bar,  arraigned 
for  examination,  and,  if  necessarv,  I  will  add,  for  punishment?" 

"Yes,  Yes,  where  is  he?  Who  is  he  1"  shouted  a  dozen  voices,  while  some 
of  the  bronzed  faces  around  frowned  stern  resentment.," 

Wayne  turned,  and  after  looking  fi.Tedly  at  John  Robbins  for  several  moments, 
as  if  it  pained  him  to  perform  his  duty,  at  length  broke  silence.  "  John  Robbins,  I 
command  you  to  produce  the  body  of  an  individual  now  in  your  possession, 
commonly  known  as  dog  Jack,  that  he  may  ansvver  to  the  charge  now  about  to  be 
preferred  against  him." 

At  this  conclusion,  the  whole  company  broke  into  a  general  peal  of  laughter,  in 
which  John  Robbins,  who  was  relieved  from  his  temporary  uneasiness,  heartily 
joined. 

"  McFarley,  arraign  the  culprit,"  cried  Wayne,  in  a  stern  tone,  which  though 
apparently  intended  to  check  the  levity  of  the  group,  only  elicited  another  burst 
of  merriment. 

Jack  was  lifted  on  the  box  by  his  master,  and  McFarley,  who  acted  as  clerk  of  the 
court,  made  him  face  the  Judge,  setting  him  on  his  haunehes,  and  holding  up  his  four 
paws  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  a  respectful  atti'tude. 

The  President  then  addressed  the  otfender  at  length,  and  with  nnuch  dignity  and 
force.  Jack,  while  this  was  going  on,  never  once  altered  the  solemnity  of  his 
demeanor.  The  only  departure  from  his  usual  stoicism,  was  an  occasional  glance 
which  he  now  and  then  stole  over  his  shoulder  at  McFarley,  who  was  holding  him. 
At  length  the  President  finished  his  address,  and  wound  up  by  saying,  that  "as  morcy 
was  thedivinest  attribute  of  dogs  as  well  as  men,  he  would  forgive  him  for  this  first 
offence,  and  allow  him  an  opportunity  to  retrieve  his  character,  by  making  him  an 
honorary  member  of  the  association."  Saying  which,  he  baptized  the  animal  on  the 
end  of  the  nose,  with  some  of  the  contents  of  the  flask  in  his  hand,  "  to  learn  him," 
as  he  said,  "  to  be  a  jolly  good  fellow.'' 

Jack  had  stood  everything  quietly,  until  this,  but  no  ssoner  did  the  alcoholic 


m 


.    .  CHAPTER  rr. 

■Arrival  of  my  Cam 

On  tho  followins  dav  m,, 

the  plea  of  pressinabisi.?/,  "^  '"  '*^^''^  '"'^'^"^7  S?  ?TT'^  '"'"'  '"terrupted 
the  day,  whTch  rZllTTn'J"''  °^"'  ^  'ne;t  n,  ias  h«M^  ^  T'  "^^'"  "C 
"fke  .„qu„ie3  of  liolwST'  '  ■  ''"'""tee  to  ^urn  1  lit'  ^'T'  P»"  °" 
VVallawalla,  respecting  thr"'  ""ssionary,  who  Wl  «  '" '''Pendence,  and 
^ade  to  the  2o5,  to  Fl  n  rP'"*^'"^*''ili"es  of  the  1,1         .  ''''"''''^hmont  on  t £ 

fnalarrange,„e.tK^^:;;«'«'a  lutledistan;;^^^^  ff  't"  ^'j""'"""""'  -  s 

recruits  kept  pourinp  in  L^^  '''^^'"'""'nent  of  the  pv'    ,v      P";P"«e  of  .nakin^ 

the  designitei  place'  '"'  '"'  ^'  '''^  pointed  time  LaX al  'Z     ^''""'^"'''  "<^!^ 

.  As  all  the  preparations  which  f  emigrants  were  at 

K  Proper  o..!.;:  r  "^"  "'"^^  ^^^  -3-  a^S.r  a^^I 

^Zr  '^^  --  '^^  --:Srr  -  -  ;X;^nc.  as  on  it  de. 

The  wagons  for  the  trio  shnnU  u  ^    "'  "'^  •"'=ce««  of 

fecure  as  though  you  Ij  l"*"-  ^"h  your  waff3h,  ^^  ""^^  Possibility  of 
heavy  brown  of  «o^„  drHlln V"  ^^T"'  Tents  and  wa?^"!''"^  '''"P'"""'''  ^""  are  as 
aer,  Jaet  well  al  the  wl"'  v*^  '''^  ''"'^r,  if  secure^JTJ  /''  ""«''•=«'  '"adeof 
tra  iron  bolts,  ly„chpT„?',J°"  '^^'^^  '«><«  along  witfc^  ^'"'.lil^e  the  foj! 
pounds  of  aseorfed  wrCht  n-ir-  ^'"''  '"'"^«  ^or^he  axles  7  7/''f.«  ^ew  ex- 
Punch  for  making  hoTs  f  t  '  /  '""u""''  P^P^"  of  ud's  1  At  "f".^'^  ''"^^''  ^  ''-^"^ 
of„axea,  and  ,ndfed  a  "I    ,'  1^!^.'^-'^.  «  handsal^t  d^  wil'.te'™"-  -^  a 


do  not  weigh  Too  murh  ^^''r,'"  '«?«*""?•     Al  th'    i^" '"«  '"  ^"g^"-.  ««  thev 
if  your  wagVn^are  2  ' '''r''i*^*''«"ght  along     Whl    '^°"  "  ™«"  has,  if  the? 


m 


68 


HISTORY   OF  ORSOOKT. 


I;  <: 


'    I 


and  the  nails  following,  and  being  driven  home,  all  will  be  found  as  tight  as  ever. 
If  your  wagons  are  even  ordinnrily  good  this  will  not  happen  at  all,  and  you  will  not 
pcrhiips  have  occasion  to  make  a  repair  of  any  consequence  during  the  whole  trip. 
Any  vehicle  that  can  perform  a  Journey  from  Kentucky  to  Missouri,  will  stand  the 
trip  well.  In  proof  of  this,  there  are  many  wagons  now  in  use  in  Oregon  which  wero 
brought  throuffh  last  year,  though  they  were  in  quite  ordinary  condition  when  they 
started  from  tTie  Status.  Beware  of  heavy  vehicles ;  they  break  down  your  teams, 
and  light  ones  answer  every  purpose  to  much  better  advantage.  The  latter  wil 
carry  every  thing  you  want,  and  as  there  are  no  obstac'^s  on  the  road,  in  the  way  of 
logs  or  stumps,  or  even  rocks,  until  you  get  more  thf>  half  way,  (when  your  load 
Js  very  mvch  reduced,)  there  is  but  little  danger  of  accident.  You  meet  with  no 
stumps  on  the  road,  until  you  came  to  the  Burnt  river,  and  there  they  are  very  few, 
and  you  encounter  no  rocks  until  you  get  among  the  tail  of  the  Blfick  hills,  and 
these  are  not  formidable  in  their  character,  and  only  last  for  a  short  dis.anco.  From 
this  poi.it  you  meet  with  no  more  ohstiuctions  warth  speaking  of.  'uni,!  you  reach 
the  Grtjat  Soda  Spring  on  Bear  river,  which  is  situated  in  the  intricacies  of  the 
mountain  passes.  E-tperience  has  proved,  however,  that  tho  OnEculties  there,  are 
readily  overcome.  If  an  individual  should  have  several  wagons,  some  good  and 
Bomo  indifllerent,  he  might  start  with  all ;  the  latter  would  go  to  the  mountains, 
where  the  loads  being  reduced  one  half,  their  burdens  might  be  transferred  entirely 
to  the  strong  ones,  and  the  former  could  roll  through  empty.  It  is  not  necessary 
(o  bring  along  extra  axle  trees,  as  you  seldom  break  one,  though  you  should  take 
with  you  a  few  pieces  of  well  seaoned  hickory,  to  be  used  for  wedges  and  for  other 
little  useful  purposes. 

Teams. — The  best  teams  for  this  trip  are  ox-teams.  The  oxen  should  be  from 
three  to  five  years  old,  well  set  and  compactly  built,  thongh  thoy  should  not  be  too 
heavy,  as  their  feet  will  not  bear  the  wear  and  tea'r  and  hardships  of  the  rcuio  as 
•veil  as  those  of  lighter  animals.  This,  though  well  to  be  observed  as  a  jeneral 
rule,  is  not  imperative  upon  the  emigrant,  as  we  had  with  us  in  this  trip  several  very 
large  oxen,  of  seven  and  eight  years  of  age,  which  endured  the  continued  labor  of 
the  task  very  well,  though  not  so  well  as  the  younger  and  lighter  ones.  Young 
cows  make  just  as  good  teams  as  any  other,  as  previous  to  your  reaching  Fort  Hall 
on  the  west  of  the  mountains,  it  is  merely  the  continuance  of  the  travel,  and  not  the 
hardship  of  the  draught  that  challenges  the  physical  powers  of  your  cattle.  To 
make  cows  serve  all  the  purposes  of  oxen,  therefore,  you  have  only  to  bitch  a  double 
number  and  you  will  go  along  as  comfortably  and  as  easily,  as  with  *he  best  oxen  in 
the  world ;  besides,  cows  in  addition  to  furnishing  you  with  a  nutritious  beverage, 
night  and  morning,  stand  the  trip  better  than  the  male  members  of  their  species. 
Either  of  the  above,  however,  are  better  for  tb<>  emigrant's  purposes  than  mulesi. 
They  are,  moreover,  more  easily  managed —  _  are  not  so  subject  to  be  lost  or 
broken  down  on  the  way — they  cost  less  at  the  start,  and  they  are  worth  four  times 
as  much  when  you  arrive  at  the  end  of  your  journey. 

Those  who  come  to  this  country  with  oxen,  will  be  in  lovo  with  them  long  before 
they  gel  here.  Their  patient,  gentle,  persevering  good  will,  are  each  a  claim  upon 
your  warm  attachment.  They  will  plunge  through  the  heaviest  mud,  dive  into 
thickets,  climb  mountains,  however  great  their  previous  labor,  without  the  slightest 
refusal,  and  in  their  frugal  habits  are  content  with  the  reward  of  almost  any  pro- 
vender— willows  alone  satisfying  their  humble  cppetites  for  days  together. 

I  would  most  strongly  urge  emigrants  to  bring  all  the  cattle  they  can  procure ; 
and  horses  among  the  rest,  as  with  proper  care,  the  latter  stand  the  journey  as  well 
as  mules.  If  a  person  setting  out  would  invest  five  hundred  dollars  in  young  heifers, 
and  drive  them  here,  they  would  be  worth  five  thousand  dollars  to  him  on  his  arrival ; 
and  by  pursuing  the  enterprise  in  the  way  of  stock  raising,  if  he  did  not  wish  to  sell, 
he  could  in  a  short  time  make  a  fortune.  Milch  cows  are  exceedingly  useful  on  the 
road,  as  they  give  an  abundance  of  milk  all  the  way,  with  the  exception  of  the 
latter  part  of  it,  where,  in  consequence  of  the  frequent  interruptions  of  the  previously 
rich  herbage,  the  supply  somewhat  decreases.  This  edible  is  of  great  value  to  the 
traveller,  as  when  thickened,  it  effects  a  great  saving  of  flour,  and  its  rich  and  deli, 
cious  qualities  afford  a  fine  and  nourishing  food  for  your  children.  Its  other  advan- 
tage is,  that  the  giver  of  it  gathers  it  from  the  pastures  from  day  today,  and  relieves 
you  of  any  trouble  of  carriage,  by  beari'iig  't  herself. 

We  found  that  yearlings,  nay  even  sucuing  calves,  stood  the  trip  well,  but  the 
objection  to  the  latter  is,  that  4hey  get  all  the  milk  of  the  mother. 

Provmions. — As  this  is  the  most  important  branch  of  preparation,  it  is  necessary 
that  we  should  bostow  a  careful  attention  upon  it.     Every  one  thinks  he  must  eat, 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


69 


rocure ; 

as  welt 

heifers, 

nrrival ; 

to  seli, 
I  on  the 

of  the 
iviously 

to  the 
nd  deli- 
• advan- 

relieves 

t)ut  the 

Icessary 
list  eat, 


and  so  tntllcd  is  the  notion,  that  it  would  amount  to  little  short  of  a  separation  of 
soul  and  body  to  be  persuaded  to  the  contrary. 

One  hundred  and  Hfty  pounds  of  flour,  and  liTty  pounds  of  bacon,  must  bo  allowed 
to  each  person,  and  this  must  lie  taken  as  n  fundamental  rule — a  jroleclivc  provision 
as  the  lawyers  say,  which  must  not  be  overlooked  or  departed  from.  Besides  the 
above,  as  much  rice,  corn  meal,  parched  corn  meal,  and  raw  corn,  peas,  dried  fruit, 
s'jgHr,  tea,  coflfoe,  and  such  necessary  articles  of  food,  as  you  can  find  room  for, 
should  by  all  means  be  brought  along.  Flour  and  parched  corn  meal  will  keep  sweet 
the  whole  way,  but  corn  meal  only  lasts  to  the  mountains.  The  parched  meal  ii 
luost  excellent  in  making  soup — a  few  beef  cattle  or  fat  calves  should  be  taken  to 
kill  on  the  way,  as  before  you  fall  in  with  the  buffalo,  you  will  need  fresh  meat  Pc^.!* 
wdl  be  found  to  be  very  useful  also,  and  your  dried  fruits  by  being  brought  out 
occasionally,  will  supply  with  their  delicacy  and  nourishing  qualities,  many  of  the 
deprivations  of  absence  from  a  settled  home. 

The  loading,  in  short,  should  consist  mostly  of  provisions.  Emigrants  should  not 
burden  themselves  with  much  furniture  or  many  beds.  It  is  folly  to  lug  these 
articles  two  thousand  miles  over  mountains  and  rivers,  through  a  mere  prejudice  of 
habit  and  notion.  A  few  light  trunks  should  be  brought  to  pack  clothes  in,  as  they 
will  be  found  to  be  better  than  any  other  article  for  the  ssme  purpose ;  boxes  are 
too  heavy  in  an  expedition  where  every  pouml  tells  in  every  hour  of  draught. 

All  heavy  articles,  therefore,  should  be  left  behind,  with  the  exception  of  the  most 
necessary  cooking  utensils,  and  these  should  be  of  tin,  or  of  the  lightest  materlHls. 
If  you  are  heavily  loaded,  let  the  quantity  of  sugar  and  coffee  bo  small,  as  milk  is 

Deferable  as  a  beverage  for  health,  and,  because,  as  I  saiJ  before,  it  tr'tvels  fur  itself, 
ou  should  provide  yourself  with  a  water  keg,  and  you  should  likewise  have  a  tin 
can  made  after  the  fashion  of  a  powder  cannisior,  to  hold  your  milk.  A  few  tin  cups, 
(iibjure  all  crockery,)  tin  plates,  tin  saucers,  a  butcher's  knife,  a  shovel,  and  a  pair 
of  pot-hooks,  will  go  very  far  toward  completing  your  culinary  arrangements,  and  a 
small  grindstone  joined  to  their  company,  to  keep  them  in  edge,  will  also  lend  a 
valuable  assistance  to  this  department.  There  are  many  other  articles  apparently 
triflitig  in  their  nature,  which  must  not  be  overlooked,  and  these  tho  good  sense 
of  the  emigrant  must  suggest  fur  himself.  Such  are  cord,  bits  of  linen,  leather,  drc. 
Rifles,  fowlinrr  pieces,  pistols,  powder,  shot,  ball,  lump  lead,  and  all  the  accompanying 
articles  of  destructive  warfare  upon  game,  are,  I  hardly  need  say,  of  the  fit  A  impor- 
tance. Man's  inheritance  of  destructiveness  must  be  borne  with  him  to  this  region 
as  well  as  to  every  otiier.  The  double  inducement  to  carry  articles  of  inherent 
usefulness,  is  their  wonderful  advance  in  value — thus,  a  rifle  worth  twenty  dollars 
in  the  States,  enhances  to  the  worth  of  fifty  dollars  in  Oregon,  and  fowling  pieces 
increase  in  price  in  proportion. 

The  clothing  you  take,  should  bo  of  the  same  description  used  in  the  middle 
states,  and  enough  should  be  laid  in  to  last  a  year.  Care  should  be  taken  that, 
amongst  tho  rest  of  your  wardrobe,  a  half  a  dozen  or  a  dozen  pair  of  strong  shoes 
should  not  be  forgotten. 

These  directions  will  suffice  to  give  the  emigrant  a  notion  of  his  wants,  and  of 
the  means  he  will  require  to  procure  them.  What  I  have  omitted,  will  be  supplied 
hereafter  in  the  course  of  this  narratiye,  and  the  remainder  left  unmentioned  will  be 
suggested  as  I  said  before  by  the  intelligence  of  the  emigrant  himself. 

On  the  20th  of  May  we  moved  to  Big  Spring  in  obedience  to  the  previous  reso- 
lution, and  found  upon  our  arrival  there,  a  large  accession  to  our  party.  Our  num- 
ber was  now  found  to  amount  to  near  five  hundred  souls,  men,  women  and  children, 
of  which  263  were  men  able  to  bear  arms. 

Here  was  an  enterprize  of  inoment  indeed  !  The  greatest  confidence  appeared 
to  prevail  throughout  the  whole  party,  and  self-reliance  and  determination  were- 
stamped  on  every  countenance.  Every  now  and  then,  as  some  rough  looking  back- 
woodsman would  swagger  past,  armed  to  the  teeth  with  pistol  and  bowie  knife,  or 
squads  of  his  companions  skirr  on  horstback  over  the  surrounding  plains,  rifle  in 
hand,  and  blade  in  belt,  an  apprehension  would  start  upon  the  mind  of  the  difficul- 
ties to  be  fonnd  in  harmonizing  the  incongruous  elements,  and  of  subduing  them  into 
one  reasonable,  order  loving  mass. 

With  the  gathering  of  the  grand  couni  1  came  the  climacteric  of  Mc  Farley's  and 
Dumberton's  etrujrgle. 

After  the  meeting  had  assembled,  and  the  temporary  officers  of  it  had  been  ap- 
pointed, came  the  proposals  of  organization.  The  ripening  of  the  proceedings  to 
this  stage  showed  that  the  fdt  gentlemen  were  not  the  only  aspirants  emulous  of 
supreme  distinction.     The  strange  assemblage  was  gathered  from  various  sections  of 


'r  i 


70 


HI8T0RT  or  ORlr.OX. 


'il 


;'  IS 


^^f 


the  country  ;  they  wore  agitated  with  vaiioui  virwa,  nnd  naturiilly  scpamted  inta< 
VHfious  cliquex.  Most  of  them  litul  their  favorite  plana  alrnady  rut  and  drif>d,iind 
their  noinincts  were  nil  ready  to  wnar  tlie  chieftain's  mantle.  A  stormy  scRsion  was 
the  conacqucncc,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  (|uestion  of  coinmanderHhip  would  not 
be  decided  this  day.  In  the  middle  of  the  uproar  of  the  hmt  hour,  Dumbertoii,  who 
had  given  his  hair  an  extra  intellectual  rush  from  the  front,  and  airaneed  the  anuflf 
coloiud  garraenta  in  a  style  of  xuperlntive  finish,  managi^d  to  ubMin  the  ear  of  the 
asauinblage.  After  having  waved  thi  'rowd  into  profound  silencu,  ho  commenced 
a  (nilugiuin  upon  the  character  of  Washington  :  made  |)atriotic  nllusionuto  the  reso- 
lution and  the  late  w^tr,  touched  on  tlm  battle  of  New  Orleans,  apostrophised  the 
American  eagle,  and  then  wound  uji  his  introduction  with  a  very  meaning  sentiment 
levelled  with  great  force  and  earnetitncsa  at  the  "iron  arm  of  despotism.'*  Imagin- 
ing ihiil  he  had  fairly  taken  captive  the  admiiationof  his  audience,  iMr.  Dumberion, 
of  Big  Pigeon,  came  to  the  point  of  hia  addrfss,  nnd  gravely  proposed  that  the 
emigration  shioild  adopt  the  criminal  laws  of  Missouri  and  Tennessee  for  its  future 
government. 

No  sooner  had  the  speaker  delivered  himself  of  his  proposition,  than  Mc  Farloy, 
who  had  been  chating  like  a  stung  hull  for  the  last  half  hour,  sprang  up,  and  remarked 
that  since  the  genileman  f/Oin  Big  Pigeon  had  found  out  we  had  robbers  and  thieves- 
amoii(<;  us,  he,  (Mc  Farley)  would  move  that  a  penitentiary  bu  engaged  to  travel  in 
company  if  his  proposal  ahould  pass. 

Mr.  Dumberion,  replied  with  a  savage  irony  intended  to  nnnihiUte  his  oppo- 
nent, that  '*the  gentleman  who  had  sugirestcd  the  last  resolution,  would  doubtless 
find  himself  taken  in  if  it  did."  Mr.  Mc  Farley  denounced  Mr.  Dumberion  as  a^ 
demagogue,  whereupon  Mr.  Dumberion  appealed  to  the  Geinus  of  Liberty  for  the 
purity  ol  his  intentions  in  a  most  beautiful  apostrophe. 

But  the  Genius  of  Liberty  not  respoiidin<»  to  ihe  call  of  the  gentleman  from  Big 
Pigeon  in  time,  some  othpr  fiery  spirits  interfered,  a/.d  shifted  the  dispute  to  new 
quest  ioM»  and  characters,  extinguishing  in  a  moment  the  hopes  and  pretensions  of 
the  Big  Pigeon  and  its  opposing  faction. 

Afier  soma  deliberation  of  a  more  quiet  and  sensible  character,  the  council  result- 
ed in  adopting  a  set  of  re«olution4  as  its  guiding  principles,  and  postponing  for  the 
time  the  election  of  a  commander  and  his  aids,  leaving  the  chief  direction  tempora- 
rily in  the  hands  of  Captain  John  Grant,  who  was  employed  as  our  pilot  for  the  route. 
An  adjournment  then  look  place  with  the  understanding  that  wn  should  siart  finally 
and  altogether  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  and  halt  at  thu  Kanzas  river,  for  a  final 
organization  in  the  election  of  the  commander  and  other  officers. 

As  the  resolutions  adopted  are  interesting  in  a  philosophical  point  of  view,  pre- 
semiiig  as  they  do  the  spectuclcof  a  free  body  of  people,  voluntarily  assuming  regu- 
lations and  restrictions  for  the  common  benefit  and  safety  of  all — and  as  they  are- 
calculated  to  be  of  service  ta  future  companies  of  emigrant-.!,  I  will  here  insert  them. 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  OREGON  EMIGRATING  SOCIETY. 

Resolved — Whereas  we  deem  it  necessary  for  the  government  of  all  societies, 
either  civil  or  military,  to  adopt  certain  rules  and  regulations  for  their  government^ 
for  the  purpose  of  keeping  good  order,  and  promoting  civil  and  military  discipline ;. 
therefore,  in  order  to  insure  union  and  safety,  we  adopt  thu  following  rules  and  regu- 
lations for  the  government  of  said  company. 

Rule  1st. — Every  male  person  of  the  age  of  sixteen  or  upwards  shall  be  consider- 
ed ii  legal  voter  in  all  the  affairs  regulating  the  company. 

Rule  2d. — There  shall  be  nine  men  elected  by  a  majority  of  the  company,  who- 
shall  form  a  council,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  settle  all  disputes  arising  between  in- 
dividuals, and  to  try,  and  pass  sentence  on  all  persons  for  any  act  of  which  they 
may  be  guilty,  which  is  subversive  of  good  order  and  military  discipline.  They 
shall  take  especial  cognizance  of  sentinels  and  members  of  the  guard  who  may  be 
guilty  of  neglect  of  duly,  or  of  sleeping  on  their  posts.  Such  persons  shall  be  tried 
and  sentence  passed  on  them  at  diseretion  of  council.  A  majority  of  two  thirds  of 
the  council  shall  decide  all  questions  that  may  come  before  them,  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval or  disapproval  of  the  captain.  If  the  captain  disapprove  of  the  decision  of 
thu  council,  he  shall  state  to  them  his  reasons,  when  they  shall  again  pass  upon  the 
question,  and  if  the  decision  is  again  made  by  the  same  majority,  it  shall  be  final. 

Rule  'Sd. — There  shall  be  a  Captain  elected,  who  shall  have  supreme  military 
command  of  the  company.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Captain  to  maintain  good 
order  and  strict  discipline,  and  as  far  as  practicable,  to  enforce  ail  rules  and  regu- 


IHSTORY  OF  OREUON. 


71 


who 
In  iii- 
1  ihey 
(rhey 
jiy  be 
J  tried 
Ids  of 
le  ap- 
lon  of 
In  the 
}al. 
lUtary 
1  good 
jregu- 


latwrts  adopted  by  the  compflny .  Any  man  who  ahnll  be  guilty  of  diaobeying  orderi, 
•hall  bfl  tried  and  sentenced  at  the  dincretion  of  tho  council,  which  may  extend  to 
oxpiilxion  from  the  company.  The-  Captain  ahall  appoint  the  requisite  number  of 
duly  Horifeant,  one  of  whom  shall  take  cliargc  of  every  guard,  and  who  (hall  hold 
their  otfices  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Captain. 

Rule  ilk. — Thcso  shall  bo  an  orderly  sergeant  elected  by  the  company,  whose 
duty  it  dhail  be  to  keep  a  regular  roll,  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  of  every 
person  subject  to  guard  duty  in  tho  company,  and  shall  make  out  his  guard  details 
by  commencing  at  the  top  of  the  roll  and  proceeding  to  the  bottom — thus  giving 
every  man  an  equal  turn  of  guard  duty.  He  shall  also  give  the  member  of  every 
guard  notice  when  he  is  detailed  (or  duly.  He  shnji  also  parade  every  guard,  call 
the  roll  and  iriNpect  the  time  of  mounting.  He  shall  also  visit  tho  guard  at  least 
once  every  night,  and  see  that  they  are  doing  strict  military  duty,  and  may  at  any 
time  give  them  the  necessary  instructions  respncti'  '  their  duty,  and  shall  regularly 
make  report  to  the  Captain  every  morning,  and  u.:  considered  second  in  com- 
mand. 

Rule  blk. — The  Captain,  orderly  sergeant,  and  members  of  the  council,  shall  hold 
their  offices  at  the  pleasure  of  the  company,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  council, 
upon  tho  application  of  one  third  or  more  of  the  company,  to  order  a  new  eledlion, 
for  rither  captain,  orderly  sergeant,  or  now  member,  or  members  of  the  council ;  or 
for  all  or  any  of  them  as  the  case  may  be. 

Rule  6lk. — The  election  fur  nflicers  shall  not  take  place  until  the  company  meet 
at  Kansas  river. 

Rule  Ilk. — No  family  shall  be  allowed  to  take  more  than  three  loose  cattle  to  every 
male  inemt>er  of  the  ago  of  sixteen  or  upwards." 

I  hardly  need  state  that  many  of  these  remarkable  regulations  remained  as  from 
their  very  nature  they  needs  must,  a  dead  letter.  The  convocation,  however,  had 
performed  the  chief  uusiness  they  were  called  to  accomplish,  and  each  man  at  the 
adjournment,  sought  his  quarters  with  the  conviction  that  he  had  taken  part  in  a 
prucuedin<r  but  little  short  in  points  of  dignity  and  grand  importance  to  the  declara- 
tion of  independance  itself. 

It  was  grey  dusk  when  iiin  council  of  Elm  Grove  broke  up,  and  the  ceremony  of 
supper  to  which  I  hnntened  with  a  t\\!,\\K  j^ood  will,  led  ine  into  the  night.  When 
my  meal  was  over,  I  paid  a  visit  to  ilin  tent  of  John  Robbins,  and  after  passing  an 
hour  with  his  family,  strolled  out  to  take  a  view  of  the  camp.  Elm  Grove  is  a  spot 
eitiiatcci  in  the  plain  of  a  vast  prairie,  and  receives  its  distinction  and  its  name  from 
two  beautiful  elm  trees  tli.it  stand  as  solitarv  (?)  land  marks  upon  its  surface. 
Though  this  was  the  first  time  1  recognised  the  term  of  '•  grove  "  as  applicable  to 
but  two  trees,  I  felt  willin;j  from  their  extreme  beauty  to  allow  them  any  pre- 
rogrttivoof  definition  they  pleased  to  arrogate.  The  night,  the  scene,  tho  stars,  tho 
air,  were  beautiful.  The  moon  shed  her  silvery  beams  upon  the  white  sheets  of 
sixty  wagons,  whose  arrangement  marked  the  parallelugramic  boundaries  of  our 
camp.  A  thousand  head  of  cattle  grazed  upon  the  surrounding  plain,  fifty  camp 
fires  sent  up  their  enlivening  beams  of  comfort  and  good  cheer,  the  cheerful  sentinel 
whisllwl  a  lively  air  as  he  swaggered  up  and  down  his  post,  the  sound  of  the  violin, 
the  flute,  the  flageolet,  the  .'iccordion  ;  the  rich  notes  of  manly  vuicps,  some  in  love 
ditties  and  some  in  patriotic  strains,  conjoined  to  lend  roniat  ce  and  excitement 
to  the  scene.  All  was  mirth,  joy,  and  contentment,  "  save  where  i'ome  infant  raised 
its  fretful  pipe,"  or  where  some  party  of  infatuated  gam»j3tf:r3  were  cursing  the 
treacheries  of  a  game  of  chance. 

I  passed  by  the  tent  of  the  Big  Pigeon,  and  overheard  a  fierce  discussion  on  the 
new  application  of  the  veto  [)0\ver,  as  bestowed  upon  the  Captain  of  the  Company, 
and  heard  Dumberton  denounce  it,  as  "  an  absurd  innovation  Jupon  a  conservative 
system,  and  a  most  gross  violation  of  a  cnrdinal  principle  of  political  jurisprudence." 
Mr.  Dumberton  owned  a  circle  of  most  ardent  admirers,  who  if  they  did  not  exactly 
understand  the  meaning  of  all  he  said,  (a  matter  that  would  have  puzzled  the  gentle- 
man from  the  vicinity  of  Kit  Dullard's  mill  himself,)  were  most  devotedly  resolved 
to  firmly  believe  every  thing  that  fell  from  his  lips,  to  be  sound  doctrine.  There  are 
in  all  societies  classes  of  people,  who  would  rather  adhere  and  sacrifice  to  principles 
tht'v  do  not  understand,  than  abide  by  propositions,  however  good,  that  they  do. 
There  is  something  to  hope  from  a  mystery  which  confounds  the  senses,  but  a  pro- 
position that  any  one  can  understand  is  altogether  bonealh  the  notice  of  an  aspiring 
iiiiHrrination. 


72 


HIBTORV    OF   ORCOON. 


i 


i:  I 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  start — Crosaing  of  the  Walpaliiaia— Visit  of  Pollaifattomics — Cronsinn  of  the 
Kamas— Sinking  of  the  raft — New  recruits — Cathvltc  Missionaries— Hlerlidn  of 
officers — Crossing  of  liig  Sandy — an  Indian  visit— Crossing  of  the  Hliir—a 
thunder  storm — Novel  race  after  blankets — Meeting  with  the  Osagcs  and  Kanzas 
— Green  and  thn  Cam — More  rain — New  organization  and  new  election — Fntndt 
in  the  desert — The  dead  I'awnee — Buffalo — chase  of  an  antelope. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  tho  22(1,  the  signal  waa  given  for  prpparntion,  nnd  tho 
csinp  WH8  Noon  in  oiio  universal  bnbel  of  excitement.  Our  arrnngementi,  however, 
were  not  all  completed  until  after  midday,  when  the  team*  hein|{  all  hitched,  the 
cattle  liurded,  the  tents  struck  and  stowed,  and  the  wagons  all  ready  to  take  their 
places  in  the  line,  assigned  them  for  tho  route,  the  bugle,  (blown  by  Jim  VVtiync, 
who  galloped  up  and  down,  as  an  aide-de-camp  to  the  temporary  commander,)  soun- 
ded Its  Ia8t  signal  of  departure,  and  away  wo  streamed  to  the  distance  of  two  miles 
over  the  unduTating  billows  of  tho  prairie,  at  last  fairly  embarked  fur  the  region  of 
our  future  homo.  The  country  we  passed  throot^h  this  day,  was  one  succes- 
sion of  gently  undulating  swells,  clothed  with  a  verdure  thatovincod  the  rich  forti- 
lily  of  the  soil.  After  a  journey  unmarked  by  any  incidents,  except  the  delays  aris- 
ing out  of  the  confusion  of  a  first  start,  wo  encamped  about  an  hour  before  sumtiH  ; 
having  accomplished  but  it  distance  of  three  miles.  On  the  following  day  we  suc- 
ceeded no  better,  only  making  in  all,  four  miles.  Our  cattle  gave  us  a  great  deal  of 
trouble,  as  they  had  heretofore  been  allowed  unrostricled  liberty  in  wandering  over 
the  plains,  and  had  nut  yet  been  broken  into  the  regularity  of  an  onward  march. 
Wo  encamped  this  evening  on  tho  banks  of  a  beautiful  little  river,  called  the  Wapa- 
luaia,  a  tributary  of  the  Kanzas.  It  was  but  about  twenty  yards  wide  ;  its  clear 
pellucid  walera  rolled  over  a  pebbly  bottom,  and  its  abrupt  banks  were  studded 
with  tho  cotton  wood,  and  a.sh,  wliich  on  some  portions  of  its  cout-ae,  intermingled 
their  foliage  acrosH  the  stream. 

As  soon  as  we  had  (alien  into  our  regular  disposition  for  tho  night,  and  slaked 
our  horses,  several  of  us  turned  out  with  nets  and  fishing-tackle,  to  sweep  and  to 
tickle  the  stream.  But  though  we  were  Hiiceossful  in  furnishing  ourselves  with  some 
amusement,  we  were  not  so  successful  in  the  object  of  our  endeavors — being 
only  I'ortunato  enough  tu  secure  a  few  trout,  tnust  of  which  fell  to  the  shar^  of  the 
female  dep.irtment  of  the  expedition. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24ih,  we  made  preparations  for  crossing  the  stream,  but 
in  consequence  of  the  steepness  of  its  banks,  were  obliged  to  let  our  wagons  down 
with  ropes,  and  to  draw  thcin  up  in  the  same  way.  This  was  the  first  proof  wo 
had,  of  the  advantages  possessed  by  the  vehicles  with  falling  tongues,  for  they 
were  easily  lifted  out  of  danger,  while  the  others  ran  against  the  bottom  in  their 
descent,  and  one  of  them  was  snapped  off.  Our  cattle  plunged  into  the  water 
without  any  hesitation,  and  all  crossing  without  ditficulty,  we  were  in  a  short  time, 
regularly  lollowing  our  onward  movement.  We  might  have  avoided  all  the  delay 
and  trouble  of  this  crossing,  if  we  had  searched  a  hundred  yards  farther  up  the 
stream,  for  there  we  would  have  found  a  practicable  ford. 

While  crossing,  we  received  a  flying  visit  from  three  Potawattomie  Indians. 
They  were  out  on  a  hunt,  and  were  mounted  on  superb  horses  arrayed  in  sadilles, 
bridles  and  martingales.  They  stopped  but  a  moment  to  gaze  at  us,  and  then 
scoured  away  at  top  speed  towards  the  south. 

On  the  forenoon  of  the  26th,  we  arrived  at  the  borders  of  the  Kanzas  river,  and 
finding  it  too  high  to  ford,  were  obliged  to  come  to  a  dead  halt,  and  to  devote  the 
rest  of  the  d.iy  to  devising  means  to  overcome  the  unuxpected  obstruction.  Here, 
however,  the  unfortunate  differences  which  arise  out  of  the  vanity  of  opinion,  pre- 
vented the  adoption  of  any  practical  measure,  and  tho  debate  went  over  till  the 
next  day.  On  the  following  morning,  27ih,  a  committee  of  three,  received  the 
delegated  opinions  of  the  whole,  and  were  directed  to  make  arrangements  for  cross- 
inggiho  river.  Content  with  the  compromise,  tho  rest  of  us  who  chose,  went  to 
work  at  fishing  for  a  fresh  dinner. 

The  committee  applied  to  a  Frenchman,  named  Pappa,  who  had  a  log  house  and 
a  little  spot  of  ground  in  cultivation  at  the  cros.siiig,  and  endeavored  to  hire  his 
platform.  But  the  old  fellow  insisting  on  the  most  unreasonable  terms,  no  ar- 
rangement could  be  made  with  him,  so  the  convention  between  Pappa  and  the 
plenipotentiaries  of  our  republic,  was  broken  abruptly  off,  and  we  were  obliged  to 
commence  the  construction  of  a  raft  upon  our  own  account.      This  proceeding 


HltTORV    OF   ORCaON. 


n 


land 

the 

leie, 

|pre- 

the 
the 
toss- 
It  to 

I  and 

his 

ar- 

ihe 

j(l  to 

Iding 


brought  the  old  curntmlgpon  to  his  ien«ct,  but  not  bning  able  to  regain  the  commit- 
teo,  he  threw  himielf  open  to  the  itnpHtirncn  of  n  KPctioii  of  our  party,  who  aviiilcd 
thcrnsftlvea  of  hi*  reduced  oliVra,  and  cominviicfd  C'Olllin^  Lcforu  l|io  main  body. 
ThiN  gave  great  dinHatufaction  to  lh«  rent  of  the  com|iaiiy,  and  inflamed  (he  (>!•• 
incnta  of  ducord  anew  in  the  cnoip  On  tint  38lh,  Pappa's  platform  whilpcroiking 
with  an  inonlinato  load,  xuddnniy  nunk,  and  levrral  women  and  children  raina 
very  near  bi>in){  drowned  ;  but  ooinu  dozen  or  two  of  iturdy  armi,  lOon  brouuht 
thetn  tu  the  «bore,  and  the  mixhap  was  conliiicd  to  tlio  luia  of  lome  property 
alone.  I'appa'a  platform  was  then  giiflered  to  float  down  the  stream,  and  our  own 
being  now  tinighi^d,  we  all  resolved  lo  croMit  over  afterwards  upon  a  common  foot- 
ing. On  the  following  morning,  SUth,  the  gencial  erusning  commenced,  but  incon- 
sequence of  the  greiit  number  of  our  caille,  it  wbh  not  finished  until  the  Olst. 
The  want  of  orgnniialion  was  the  great  object  which  retarded  our  movements. 
While  we  wore  lingering  on  the  banks  of  this  river,  a  number  of  wagon*  from 
the  Platte  country,  e.amu  in  to  join  the  expedition.  On  the  SOlh,  two  Culholio 
miHmoniiries  arrived  at  the  ford.  They  were  pilgrims  through  the  wilderness  on  a 
mimiion  of  faith  to  ilin  Flathead  Indiana.  We  treated  them  with  every  observance 
of  riHprct,  aritl  cheerlully  lent  ihcm  the  ansistance  of  our  raft. 

'I'he  Kansas  river  is  at  this  point  about  a  quarter  of  a  milo  wide,  with  sandy  banks 
and  bottom,  and  its  waters  are  muddy  like  those  of  the  Missouri  The  crossing,  aa 
I  KOid  before,  was  completed  on  the  .'list,  and  the  whole  party  were  encamped  safely 
on  the  other  sido,  at  Ulack  Warrior  Creek. 

Having  now  tcHted  tu  our  heart's  content  the  evils  of  too  large  an  exercise  of  Vhe 
"  largest  liberty,"  the  desire  became  universal  for  the  election  of  an  absolute  com- 
mander of  arrangements.  Accordingly,  a  general  meeting  was  held,  %nd  the  or- 
ganization was  consummated  by  the  election  of  Peter  H.  Burnett,  as  commander 
in  chief,  and  Mr.  Nesinilh  as  orderly  sergeant. 

This  election  took  place  on  tho  1st  .June,  and  on  the  3d  we  left  our  quarters  for 
an  onward  movement.  Right  glad  were  we  to  get  away,  for  our  situation  had  been 
very  uncomfortable  during  tho  whole  lime  from  the  2Gth,  and  our  stock  kept  con- 
stantly sticking  in  the  mud  on  the  banks  of  this  miserable  creek.  On  the  3d,  we 
travelled  n  distance  of  filceen  miles,  (more  than  nil  accomplished  during  the  previous 
eleven  days.)  and  on  the  following  day  seventeen  miles  more  through  a  section  of 
the  most  beautiful  prairie  lands  that  had  as  yet  ever  met  my  eye.  This  day's  jour- 
ney took  us  across  a  larfju  creek  with  high  banks,  called  "  Big  Sandy,"  but  in  con- 
sequence of  the  thorough  organization  which  had  already  been  effected  by  our 
commander,  and  his  prompt  measures,  it  offered  but  little  obstacle  to  our  progress. 
We  encamped  at  close  of  day,  some  miles  beyond  its  western  bank.  W  bile  sta- 
tioning our  wagoi's  in  their  quadrangular  order,  and  pitching  our  tents,  we  received 
a  visit  from  some  Kanzas  chiefs,  much  to  tho  terror  of  the  women  and  children, 
who  gazed  with  any  feelings*  but  those  of  admiration  upon  the  grim  visages  of  tho 
warriors,  made  more  grim  by  the  bars  of  black  and  red  paint  drawn  across  them ; 
or  who  looked  with  any  thing  but  a  serene  sensation  upon  the  threatening  toma- 
hawks and  scalping  knives  which  grinned  beneath  their  girdles.  These  lords  of  the 
soil,  however,  were  by  no  means  disposed  to  be  savage  with  us,  and  after  a  tempo- 
rary stay,  during  which  they  received  some  tobacco  and  a  few  loads  of  powder  and 
shot,  they  retired  in  an  opposite  direction  from  whence  they  came.  On  the  fifth, 
we  crossed  the  east  fork  of  the  Blue,  a  large  creek  which  is  a  tributary  to  the  Kan- 
zas, accomplishing  this  day  over  twenty  miles.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  sixth,  we 
arrived  at  the  west  fork  of  the  Blue,  fifteen  miles  west  of  the  branch  we  passed 
the  day  before.  We  found  it  to  be  a  small  river  about  fifty  yards  wide,  and  coa- 
trary  to  our  expectations,  it  was  fordable,  a  rain  during  the  previous  night  h»v  ng 
e.Tcited  our  apprehensions  that  we  should  find  it  swelled  into  a  torrent.  First 
uriving  in  our  cattle,  we  next  propped  up  our  wagon  beds  with  large  blocks  of  wood, 
and  thus  conveyed  them  over  safe  and  sound.  The  prairie  on  the  other  side  waa 
level  and  dry,  and  wo  encamped  quite  content  with  the  day's  performance. 

Alas,  our  satisfaction  was  bound  lo  be  of  short  endurance  ;  for  about  ten  o'clock 
at  night,  tho  sky  waa  covered  with  a  darkness  so  dense  as  to  fairly  acho  the  sight 
that  peered  upward  in  the  vain  attempt  to  pierce  it.  A  close  heaviness  oppressed 
the  air  that  portended  the  coining  of  a  thunder  storm.  A  signal  was  given  to  us 
by  tho  guards,  and  every  one  was  up  in  a  moment  to  make  all  secure  about  his  tent 
or  wagon  as  the  case  might  be ;  but  while  yet  bustling  about,  the  inky  pall  was 
rent  in  twain,  and  a  tremendous  burst  exploded  over  our  very  heads,  that  absolutely 
struck  some  of  us  to  the  ground.  A  sullen  moan  followed,  increasing  gradually 
into  a  wild  shriek  of  the  elements,  as  if  every  demon  of  the  night  was  lending  to 


fci ) 


74 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


t    il 


■ " 

■| 

',1 

i 

^! 

i;' 

i 

i 

the  moment  |hi8  croak  of  horror.  Al  length  the  howling  tempest  struck  ui,  and 
before  we  had  fairly  recovered  from  our  first  stupefaction,  several  tents  wore  blown 
down,  and  two  or  thrte  which  had  be>'n  carelessly  staked  were  lifted  in  the  air,  and 
passed  off  on  »hp  breath  of  the  hurricane  like  puffs  of  down.  I  stood  near  the 
scene  of  one  of  these  mishaps,  and  could  not  restrain  from  a  burst  of  laughter 
when,  as  the  canvass  departed,  a  hisband  and  wife  jumped  up  in  their  scanty  night 
clothes,  and  on  their  hands  and  knees  chased  the  fugitive  sheets  which  curled  over 
and  over  provokingly  before  them.  My  merriment  startled  the  female  pursuer,  who 
on  discovering  mo  and  my  roaring  companions  made  a  rapid  retreat  and  crept  under 
the  mattrass. 

These  were  not  the  worst  of  the  visitations  of  the  storm,  for  the  wind  was  ac- 
companied by  a  tremendous  deluge  of  rain  that  flooded  the  whole  surface  of  the 
prairie,  and  the  entire  platform  of  our  encampment ;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  there  was  scarcely  a  dry  inch  of  skin  in  it.  Our  condition  during  the  night 
was,  consequently,  very  uncomfortable,  and  it  was  not  until  a  pretty  advanced  hour 
in  the  morning,  that  we  had  recovered  from  our  condition.  This  learnt  us  a  new 
lesson  of  precaution,  which  was  to  dig  a  trench  around  the  tents  on  pitching  them, 
80  as  to  lead  the  water  off. 

Ou  this  day  (6lh,)  we  were  encountered  on  our  march  by  a  party  of  Osage  and 
Katizas,  or  Caw  Indians,  in  all  the  horrid  accoutrements  of  war.  They  numbered 
about  ninety  in  all,  and  had  evidently  studied  every  means  of  making  themselves 
dis^'ustiiig  and  terrible.  They  ail  rode  ponies,  and  had  their  heads  closely  shaven, 
wilh  the  exception  of  the  stiff  lock  in  the  centre,  which  their  [)oliteness  to  their  foes 
reserves  for  the  scalping  knife.  The  advantages  of  this  international  regulation  of 
courtesy  is  obvious,  for  when  a  warrior  has  conquered  a  foe,  instead  of  being  obliged 
to  ri[)  off  his  scalp  in  a  tedious  operation  with  his  teeth,  he  relieves  him  of  it  grace- 
fully and  easily  hy  the  assistance  of  his  top  knot.  He  is  thus  allowed  to  pay  atten- 
tion lo  d  greater  number  of  foes,  and  the  natural  increase  which  thus  takes  place  in 
deeds  of  arms,  encourages  the  martial  spirit  of  both  nations.  The  exploit  of  this 
party  had  not  been  highly  creditable  to  their  character,  for  they,  had  waged  destruc- 
tion only  on  one  brave  Pawnee,  whom  they  had  surprised  and  run'  down  like  a 
wild  beust,  but  who,  however,  had  wounded  two  of  his  pursuers  badlyjbefore  he  was 
overcome.  The  miserable  devils  had  his  scalp  with  them,  and  they  had  also  se- 
cured portions  of  his  cheeks  and  nose,  which  were  distributed  among  the  chiefs. 
They  had  ripped  the  former  from  the  head  of  their  victim  with  considerable  skill, 
the  ears  being  attached  to  it,  and  upon  inspection,  I  perceived  they  still  contained 
their  unfortunate  owner's  wampum  ornaments. 

The  Kanzas  and  Osages  are  the  most  miserable  and  filthy  India\iS  we  saw  east 
of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  they  annoyed  ns  excessively  whenever  we  fell  in 
with  them,  through  their  mendicant  propensities.  We  gave  to  this  party  a  calf 
and  gome  bread,  as  they  importuned  us  \  -ith  great  earnestness,  stating,  to  strengthen 
their  application,  that  they  had  not  tasted  food  for  three  days.  One  of  the  chiefs 
with  an  ear  of  the  slaughtered  Pawnee  swinging  around  his  neck,  approached 
Green,  a  strapping  .Missuurian,  who  stood  leaning  on  his  rifle,  and  gazing  at  the 
crew  with  a  stern  expression  of  niirifilcd  )scorn  and  abhorretice.  The  savage  im- 
portuned liiiii  by  a  s.gii  for  some  powder  and  ball. 

"  Some  powder  and  ball  you  want,  eh  V  said  Green,  slowly  rising  from  his 
slightly  incumbent  position.  "Some  powder  and  ball,  eh.'  Well,  I  can  spare  you 
jist  one  load  out  o'  here  !"  saying  which  he  significantly  touched  the  muzzle  of  his 
gun  with  his  finger,  and  then  slowly  raised  it  to  his  sight.  The  savage  hesitated 
for  a  moment,  uncertain  of  the  white  man's  purpose,  but  perceiving  that  the  wea- 
pon gradually  travelled  to  a  level,  he  stepped  back  and  opened  his  hands,  as  if  to 
explain  the  friendliness  o(  his  purpose. 

But  the  hooshier's  blood  was  up,  and  advancing  as  the  Caw  retired,  he  raised 
the  but  of  his  rifle  in  a  threatening  manner,  exclaiming  in  an  imperative  tone  :  •'  Out 
o'  my  si^ht,  you  d — d  nigger,  or  by — ,  Pll  spile  your  scalpin  for  ever."  The  Indian 
slouched  sullenly  away,  and  Green,  when  tired  of  chasing  him  with  his  eye,  turned 
off  in  another  direction  growling:  "I'd  like  to  spend  a  few  private  moments  with 
that  fellow  in  the  open  prairie." 

Iri  addition  to  their  other  bad  qualities,  these  Indians  have  the  repntation  of  being 
the  most  arrant  thieves  in  the  world.  They  satisfied  us  as  to  their  rascally  propen- 
sities ou  taking  their  departure,  by  the  theft  of  a  couple  of  horses,  which  disappear- 
ed from  the  time  of  their  leaving  us.  One  of  the  animals  was  the  property  of  the 
indiifiiaiit  Missourian. 

On  the  7th,  we  removed  our  camp  to  the  distance  of  half  a  tnile  further  on,  and 


<vi  > 


HISTORY   OF   OREGOW. 


76 


e 
(1 


rcRoIved  to  pause  the  whole  day  in  order  to  dry  our  goods  and  repair  the  injuries 
done  by  the  previous  storm.  The  night,  however,  ended  most  of  our  labor,  for  we 
were  visited  by  another  severe  shower,  which  again  flooded  the  whole  camp.  On 
the  following  morning  we  started  ofT  in  the  rain,  which  was  falling  in  torrents,  with 
the  determination  of  finding  ground  high  enough  to  prevent  our  camp  from  being 
continually  swamped.  After  a  weary  and  miserable  peregrination  of  five  miles,  we 
came  to  a  grove  of  young  elms  on  a  slightly  elevated  knoll,  v/hich  secured  us  just 
the  advantag^.s  we  sought.  The  rain  still  kept  coming  down,  but  after  our  tents 
were  pitched,  we  were  able  to  defy  it. 

Several  of  us  had  caught  severe  colds  by  the  drenching  we  had  received,  and 
among  the  rest,  Mr.  Burnet  was  badly  attacked  with  so  serious  an  indisposition, 
that  he  was  forced  to  resign  the  command. 

On  the  9th  the  clouds  dispersed,  the  sun  broke  through  them  with  its  enlivening 
rays,  and  we  started  off  at  an  early  hour  to  reach  a  grove  afcout  five  miles  distant, 
where  we  would  have  superior  facilities  in  wood  and  water,  for  drying  our  clothes 
and  recruiting  ourselves.  We  reached  it  about  twelve  o'clock,  and  making  a 
halt,  in  less  than  half  an  hour,  forty  or  fifty  huge  fires  were  roaring  and  crackling  in 
the  plain.  After  we  had  thoroughly  dried  our  garments  and  recovered  our  things 
from  their  previous  confusion,  we  turned  our  attention  to  supplying  the  vacancy  in 
theoiRceof  commander.  A  council  was  held  which  resulted  in  a  separation  of  the 
two  divisions,  one  under  the  command  of  Captain  Jesse  Applegate,  and  the  other, 
after  adopting  a  new  organization,  elected  William  Martin  commander.  The  latter 
division  was  the  largest  of  the  two,  having  in  it  seventy-two  wagons  and  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  men. 

On  the  lOth,  we  started  out  under  this  new  arrangement  with  fine  weather,  and  a 
beautifully  undulating  landscape  beckoned  us  on  into  its  fertile  depths.  I  rode  on 
amongst  the  advanced  guard  on  the  look  out  for  buffalo,  and  yielding  to  a  spirt  of 
gaiety  and  spirit  in  my  horse,  I  suflered  him  to  carry  me  far  beyond  the  rest.  Hik- 
ing at  length  to  turn  back  to  my  companions,  I  paused  to  take  a  momentary  scru- 
tiny of  the  horizon,  when  I  suddenly  perceived  in  the  extreme  of  the  south  west, 
two  or  thi'-e  little  dots  just  waving  on  its  edge.  "  Buffalo,  Buffalo  !"  shouted  I, 
waving  MV  hand  to  those  behind,  and  dashing  off  with  a  dozen  clattering  fast  be- 
hind ine  in  the  direction  of  the  objects.  We  were  not  long  left  in  doubt  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  new  corners,  for  we  were  approaching  each  other,  and  in  a  few  minu- 
tes were  shaking  hands  with  the  mounted  outposts  of  a  trading  caravan  from  Fort 
Lurimic,  on  its  way  to  Independence  with  furs  and  peltries.  When  the  wagons 
came  up,  they  were  cheered  by  our  people,  and  welcomed  with  the  same  enthusiasm 
that  hails  a  sail  upon  the  ocean  after  a  joyless  solitude  of  months.  It  being  noon, 
and  a  brook  running  hard  by,  we  insisted  on  a  pause,  and  we  accordingly  spent  a 
couple  of  happy  hours  together,  after  which  we  separated,  and  boih  moved  on 
again.  Surely  there  is  something  good  in  human  nature  !  Such  scenes  as  this 
go  very  far  to  destroy  the  injustice  of  the  assertion,  that  man's  heart  is  continually 
evil,  and  that  he  naturally  inclines  to  it  as  the  sparks  fiy  upward.  The  converse 
is  the  rule. 

Upon  our  start,  I  resumed  my  position  as  a  scout,  and  faNing  in  with  Green,  the 
sturdy  Missourian,  we  kept  company  together.  As  we  led  the  advance  with  Capt. 
Ganl,  our  attention  was  attracted  simultaneously  by  a  flock  of  large  birds  hovering 
over  some  object  on  the  plain,  and  occasionally  stoopmg  down  towards  it.  For  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  the  f/Ause  of  their  operations,  we  rode  toward  them,  and 
on  approaching  the  scene,  found  them  to  be  a  lot  of  buzzards  feeding  upon 
the  dead  body  of  a  man.  Upon  a  close  inspection,  we  discovered  it  to  be 
the  body  of  an  Indian,  whose  dissevered  head,  badly  scalped,  lay  within  a  few  feet 
of  his  body.  It  was  evidently  the  victim  of  the  war  party  of  the  Kanzas  and 
Osages  whom  we  had  encountered  a  few  days  before. 

"  Pd  give  another  horse  to  have  a  turn  with  one  of  the  niggers  who  helped  in 
this  '■'  said  Green,  as  we  turned  away. 

The  road  was  smooth  all  the  way  to-day  ;  nothing  within  eye-shot,  but  a  gently 
undulating  landscape,  relieved  occasionally  by  little  colonies  of  saplings,  and  cover- 
ed with  a  generous  crop  of  grass,  in  wliich  our  cattle  found  an  elysium  of  proven- 
der. We  had  another  fall  of  rain  on  the  evening  of  the  1 1th,  but  it  was  slight,  and 
so  far  from  doing  damage,  it  scarcely  occasioned  inconvenience. 

On  the  12ih,  as  we  were  jogging  along  at  a  comfortable  pace,  the  whole  camp 
was  suddenly  thrown  into  a  fever  of  excitement  by  shouts  of:  "  Buffalo!  Buffalo  !" 
At  the  welcome  and  long  wished  for  cry,  several  of  us  who  were  mounted,  galloped 
ahead  to  lake  a  share  in  the  sport.     On  reaching  the  advance,  our  erroneous  im- 


m 


76 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON. 


I 


pressions  wore  corrected  by  the  information  that  the  sport  was  over,  and  that  Capt. 
Gant  and  others  had  just  killed  a  iargp  biilfalo,  and  were  waiting  until  the  caravan 
arrived  at  the  scene  of  the  exploit,  to  taite  charge  of  the  carcase.  It  turned  out  to 
be  a  VPteran  bull  who  had  been  discovered  by  the  hunters  grazing  by  himself  about 
two  miles  distant  on  the  lead.  The  horsemen  immediately  run  upon  him,  discharg- 
ing their  rifles  to  slop  his  career,  and  when  they  had  sufficiently  shortened  their  dis- 
tance, drew  on  him  their  large  horse  pistols.  This  proved  effectual,  and  the 
old  soldier  bit  the  dust  a  victim  to  seven  balls.  He  appeared  worn  with  grief  at 
his  desolate  condition,  and  his  flesh,  toughened  with  age,  proved  hardly  an  enviable 
refreshment.  The  old  fellow  had  probably  been  left  here  in  the  spriny;  when  sick, 
by  the  other  buffaloes.  These  animals  come  down  to  Blue  river  in  great  numbers 
to  spend  the  winter  among  the  rushes,  which  are  abundant  in  tho  bottoms  near  the 
stream,  but  leave  in  the  spring. 

On  the  14th,  we  entered  and  passed  over  a  broad  district  of  prairie  land,  equal 
for  farming  purposes  to  any  soil  in  the  world  ;  but  it  was  all  solitary  wild  prairie, 
and  scarcely  relieved  by  the  slightest  rise  or  fall. 

For  the  last  three  or  four  days,  we  had  every  now  and  then  seen  an  antelope, 
but  in  consequence  of  the  extreme  shyness  of  the  animals  none  of  us  had  been  able 
to  get  a  shot  at  one.  To  day,  however,  Jim  Wayne,  who  to  his  character  of  hu- 
morist and  musician,  added  the  qualities  of  a  capital  huntsman  and  woodsman, 
brought  in  a  young  doe  slung  across  the  saddle  of  his  horse,  singing — 

"  Merril}-  the  wild  stag  l)OiinJs  I" 

with  his  gun  crossed  in  the  hollow  of  his  arm,  and  his  hat  cocked  more  gaily  than  f  ver. 
•'  Hollo,  Jim  !"  shouted  McFarley,  who  had  just  came  up,  "  so  you've  had  some 
luck,  I  see  !" 

"  Yes,  and  I  have  discovered  a  new  ..lethod  of  making  cheap  bread." 
"  Say  It,  my  hearty  I" 

"Bv  finding  doe  to  my  hand  in  the  prairie." 

"  Faith  an  you'll  find  it  well  kneaded  too,  (needed,)  or  my  stomach's  no  judge," 
said  the  politician  with  a  moistening  mouth. 

"That  last  execrable  pun  entities  you  to  one  of  her  rump  stakes,  and  I'll  see 
that  it  is  bestowed  upon  you  if  it  should  be  the  last  official  act  of  my  life,"  replied 
the  humorist  with  dignity  as  he  moved  on. 

On  the  following  day,  16ih,  I  had  aijreed  with  Jim  that  he  and  I  should  take  a 
skirr  together,  lo  see  if  we  could  not  bW  upon  another  animal  of  the  same  species  ; 
but  an  incident  occurred  in  the  course  of  the  morning  that  diverted  our  intei.iioiis. 
A  shout  from  the  rear  turned  our  attention  in  that  direction,  and  splitting  away  at 
top  speed,  wo  saw  a  splendid  buck  antelope  coming  towards  us,  followed  by  sotne 
of  our  dogs  in  full  chase.     He  had  been  hiding  in  a  little  thicket  on  our  trail,  f  nd 
just  as  the  last  wagon  passed,  some  loitering  hound  had  caught  the  scent  and  started 
him  up.     Instead  of  striking  away  from  us  across  the  prairie,  the  frightened  animal 
came  direct  along  the  lino,  and  ran  down  its  whole  length,  extending  over  two  miles, 
at  a  distance  of  not  more  than  two  hundred  yards.     It  was  a  most  beautiful,  and  at 
the  same  time  a  most  gxciting  sight.     Away  he  flew  like  the  wind,  at  every  mo- 
ment the  pack  scouring  in  his  rear,  receiving  new  accessions  as  the  chase  advanced, 
and  at  the  distance  of  every  few  hundred  yards  a  rifle  would  send  its  ineffectual 
messenger  to  arrest  his  course.     At  length,  however,  a  large  hound  from  one  of 
the  foremost  wagons  seeing  tho  squad  approaching,  lan  down  to  meet  them.     The 
affrighted  buck,  terrified  out  of  his  wits,  though  plainly  headed  off,  did  not  sheer  an 
inch  from  his  course,  and  the  dog  meeting  him  with  a  spring,  seized  him  by  the  throat 
and  tumbled  him  to  the  ground.     The  animal  contrived  to  raise  and  shake  him  off 
before  the  rest  of  the  pack  arrived,  but  a  rifle  ball  caught  him  in  the  shoulder,  and 
Jo  yielded  to  his  fate  by  dropping  l:ist  on  his  knees  and  then  rolling  over  on  his  stde 

''^Thl'^antTolie  is  a  most  beautiful  animal,  and  perhaps  there  is  no  other  creature 
in  creatS  capable  of  an  equal  degree  of  speed.  He  is  tall,  graceful,  ''''^  «  '^t^'X ' 
Iped  something  like  a  deer,  clothed  in  a  hide  of  the  same  color ;  and  like  deer, 
the  bucks  have  branching  horns,  though  blacker  and  smahcr  '"  \';f' r,;;f  "^^  ,^,„,„ 
I  had  a  conversation  over  the  body  of  the  animal,  with  an  old  ^ack-wood  nan 
who  tdd  me  i..  instancing  the  animal's  fleetness,  that  he  }^onr.e^-;::^:i:';j:;iZ 
grey  houml,  which  was 
ing  manner.     The  ante 


istancing  the  animal's  fleetness,  that  he  had  once  a  very  superior 
1  was  bVought  into  contest  with  one  of  the  species  in  the  tollow- 
c  antelope  and  dog  were  running  at  right  angles  towards  c:.ch 
not  disc'ovoring  the  hound  ^^1^,}^^^^ :-^^^-]!^": ^'^flT.^i 


other,  the  former 
each  other. 


The  strumrlo  then  commenced,  but  the  antelope  shot  aw.iv  Itom  lUe 


HISTORY   OP  OREGON. 


77 


dog  with  the  most  astonishing  swiftness.     The  race  lasted  for  a  quarter  of  a  miU, 
earih  doing  his  besi,,  bnt  tho  antelope  had  then  outran  the  dog  so  far,  that  the  laiier 
actually  stood  still  and  gazed  after  him  in  utter  astonishment.     Yet  this  houm  had 
often  run  down  deer  and  wolves  with  ease.     Tho  antelope  is  a  very  wary  animal, 
and  consequently  extremely  difficult  of  approach.     His  curiosity  is,  however,  very 
grcnt  ;  and  the  hunter  adapting  himself  to  the  habits  of  the  animal,  conceals  him- 
self behind  a  hillock  of  sand,  or  some  other  object,  and  putting  his  hat,  cap,  or  hand- 
kerchief upon  the  end  of  his  ram  rod,  waves  it  gently  to  and  fro  to  attract  his  atten- 
tion.    As  soon  as  the  antclopo  sees  it,  ho  slowly  approaches,  occasionally  pausing 
with  a  snort;  then  gradually  advancind  again,  snifts  the  air  with  the  utmost  suspi- 
cion, and  tliough  no  breath  is  heard  above  the  humming  of  a  mosquito,  will  some- 
times turn  and  dash  off  several  yards,  to  return  in  like  manner  again.    "At  length, 
however,  his  fate  coaxes  him  within  reach  of  the  trusty  rifle — a  crack  follows,  and 
down  he  goes.     He  is  not  very  tenacious  of  life,  and  a  slight  wound  will  bring  hitu 
to  an  almost  immediate  surrender.     Notwithstanding  his  cxceedmg  fleetness,  he 
can  be  run  down  when  very  fat,  on  horseback,  if  the  chase  is  continued  for  twenty 
miles.     My  communicant,  who  had  spent  several  years  in  the  region  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  informed  me  that  they  were  frequently  run  down  by  wolves,  and  that  he 
had  often  snatched  the  jaded  prey  from  these  carnivorous  banditti  at  the  conclusion 
of  a  long  chase,  and  appropriated  it  to  himself.     I  found  the  flesh  of  the  antelope 
very  delicious  eating.     It  is  very  juicy,  and  is  generally  priaed  above  venison. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


ro 
|r, 


he 


Visit  of  Pawnees — Arrival  at  the  Platte — Its  valley — lis  stream — Buffalo  patks — 
Climate— Dodging  a  sleeper — Buffalo  kuiils — Buffalo  hunting — Directions  how 
to  follow  it — Buffalo  meat. 

Our  course  from  the  13!h  to  tho  17th,  lay  up  the  Republican  fork  of  the  Bi  'c, 
and  at  the  close  o(  the  latter  day  we  had  accomplished  two  hundred  and  tifty  miles 
from  the  rendezvous,  giving  an  average  of  ten  (niles  a  day  from  the  start ;  stoppages 
and  all  incliidcd.  The  Katizas  country,  which  is  tho  section  through  which  we  had 
passed,  is  nineteen  twentieths  very  fertile  prairie,  butscatilily  furn.shed  with  timber, 
except  upon  the  streams.  This  conaisis  generally  of  elm,  low  bur  cak,  cotton  wood, 
small  swamp  ash,  and  a  few  willows,  and  these  ap  J  said  before,  only  grow  (w;'  i  a 
ff;\v  solitary  exceptions)  on  the  margin  of  the  alrea-i!!  In  consequence  of  this  de- 
fect, there  are  but  few  portions  of  it  suitable  for  J-r.  'iig  purposes.  The  whole 
coutilry  is  very  scarce  in  game,  and  we  ."jtw  none  ('),.. ring  ihr  veteran  buffalo)  but 
a  few  deer  and  antelope. 

The  only  description  of  smaller  game  wc  sa^/,  v,  js  a  small  kind  of  snipe,  and  a 
very  few  small  birds  of  otlier  descriptions.  The  o  .cast,  of  a  half-starved  wild  cat, 
killed  by  oni;  of  the  company,  attested  the  paucny  of  h3r  ;angr,  ;;:,,ong  this  descrip- 
tion of  prey.  The  streams  also  were  very  '  ,,  rd  \n  their  yield  of  fis',;.  The  road 
from  Independence  to  this  point,  (the  crossing  p,>int  lo  tie  line  of  the  Platte,)  is 
through  prairie  almost  altogether,  interrupied  on!\  by  occasional  swells,  which  are 
far  from  being  an  obstacle  to  travel.  The  only  dirficuliies  are  experienced  at  the 
fords  upon  the  streams,  which  Hre  miry,  abrupt,  and  as  I  have  shown,  sometimes  dif- 
ficult to  cross.     You  will,  nevertheless,  not  ha  driven  more  ilian  once  to  a  raft. 

In  the  afternoon  we  encamped  foi    the  last  time  upon  the  Ulue  Hivor,  and    this 
circnmstance  in  connection  with  the  rapid  progiess  of  the  last  three  days,  put  us  in 
a  most  excellent  humor  with  ourselves.     While  we  were  employed  in  the  usual 
duties  and  amusemfiits  of  such  a  pause,  we  received  the  visit  of  a   large  party  of 
Pawnees,  who  approached  us  from  the  south,  in  which  dfrectiun  they  had  been  on 
a  hunt.     They  had  with  them  several  packs  of  buffalo  mer.t ;  (he  reward  of  their 
expedition.     They  cut  this  when  they  butcher  it,  into  long,  thii.     :>d  wide   slices, 
with  the  grain  of  the  meat,  and  then  cure  it  by  drying  it  in  tlie  sun,     After  it  is  thus 
dried,  they  have  a  mode  of  |)re8sin^-  it  between  two  pieces  of  wood,  which  gives  ! 
a  very  smooth  and  regular  appearance.     They  gave  us  of  it  very  liberally,  and  ask- 
ed for  nothing  in  return.     These  Indians  are  a  much  superior  race  to  the  Kanzas 
and  Osages  ;  ihcy  wear  their  hair  like  the  whiles  ;  their  stature  is  athletic,  and  their 
mien  noble.     While  with  us,  they  straggled  freely  through  the  camp,  and  amused 
themselves  very  much  by  imitating  our  mode  of  driving  the  teams.     We  informed 
them,  before  they  left,  of  the  massacre  cf  Ihcit  brother  by  tho  Osages  and  Caws, 


■f  1l 


I  IK. 


78 


HlilTORY    OF   OREUON. 


upon  which  they  set  up  n  howl  of  wo,  and  swore  revenge  with  the  most  violent  ges- 
ticulations. They  left  us  as  they  mot  us,  in  the  moat  friendly  manner,  and  we  did 
not  sulTer  from  their  depredations  as  we  had  from  tho^e  of  their  enemies. 

"  Hurrah,  for  the  Platte !  tira  la  !  lira  la  !"  cried  Jim  Wayne  from  his  mouth, 
and  blew  Jim  Wayne  on  his  bugle,  as  be  galloped  up  and  down  the  line,  on  the 
morning  of  the  18lh.  "  Hurrah  for  the  Platte  !  Good  morning,  Mrs  Robbins  !— 
inornin,  Mc Farley — come,  stir  about,  bustle,  bustle,  we  must  reach  the  Platte  to- 
day !  tira  la  !  tira  la  !"  and  away  went  the  mad  devil  repeating  the  summons  in 
every  quarter.  All  was  stir  and  bustle  ;  the  Platte  had  long  been  sighed  for  us  the 
direct  line  of  route  that  was  to  lead  us  straight  to  the  passage  of  the  mountains, 
and  on  its  banks  we  had  been  assured  of  finding  a  constant  and  abundant  supply  of 
game.  I^eing  twenty  miles  or  more  away,  it  was  necessary  we  should  bestir  our- 
selves at  an  early  hour,  to  reach  it  before  night-fall.  We  accordingly  got  an  tiirly 
breakfast,  and  soon  the  long  line  of  the  caravan  unwound  itself  over  the  undulating 
fields,  to  spun  the  main  dividing  ridge  between  this  tributary  of  the  Kanias  and  the 
Great  Platte.  Wo  travelled  all  day  without  any  interruption,  over  the  finest  road 
imaginable,  and  just  as  the  sun  was  gcing  down  behind  the  bleak  sand-hills  on  its 
northern  bank,  wc  caught  our  first  view  of  the  wide  and  beautiful  valley  of  the 
American  Nile.  Being  yet  two  miles  distant  from  its  bank,  we  halted  in  the  fertile 
bottom  land,  after  having  accomplished  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles,  congratula- 
ting ourselves  with  the  prospect  of  plain  sailing,  and  plenty  of  fresh  provender,  until 
we  siriick  the  mountains.  This  was  all  wo  had  to  console  us  for  a  cold  supper,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  complete  absencie  of  fuel  where  wc  were.  In  the  morning,  (liJth,) 
we  had  to  start  without  breakfast,  in  consequence  of  this  want,  but  after  travelling 
a  few  miles,  we  found  plenty  of  dry  willows  to  serve  our  purpose,  and  then  made  a 
most  voracious  meal      We  struck  the  Great  Platte  near  the  head  of  Grand  Island. 

This  was  a  beautiful  island,  lying  in  the  centre  of  the  stream,  (very  wide  at  this 
place,)  seventy-five  miles  in  length,  and  covered  with  the  finest  timber,  while  not  a 
solitary  tree  grew  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  where  we  were. 

Having  now  brought  the  reader  to  the  grand  avenue,  which  leads  the  emigrant 
direct  to  his  future  destination,  I  will  not  trespass  upon  his  patience  by  a  description 
of  every  day's  journey  and  proceedings,  but  shall  content  myself  with  giving  him  a 
general  view  of  the  route,  its  characteristics,  facilities  and  extent ;  thus  advancing 
with  greater  rapidity  to  the  main  subject  of  inquiry — Oregon  itself;  and  thus  avoid- 
ing the  unnecessary  repetitions  of  diurnal  trips,  nine-tenths  of  which  would  be  in 
their  description  mere  counterparts  of  those  that  went  before. 

Tlie  Great  Platte,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  rivers  in  the  world,  and  when 
considered  with  a  view  to  the  facility  its  level  banks  afford  for  intercommunication 
with  our  Pacific  territories,  its  value  is  immense.  It  lakes  its  rise  in  Wind  River 
Mountain,  (in  latitude  42^)  a  little  north  of,  and  near  the  Great  Southern  Pa-ss, 
and  runs  due  east,  with  scarcely  a  pemepiible  deviation  of  course  to  the  traveller 
along  its  banks,  for  a  distance  of  600  miles,  to  its  junction  with  its  southern  branch, 
and  t'rom  that  point  3U0  miles  more,  when  it  disembogues  into  the  Missouri,  in  lati- 
tude about  41*^,  30'.  Like  the  Nile,  it  runs  hundreds  of  miles  through  a  sterile 
wilderness,  and  like  the  .Nile  it  unrolls  its  strip  of  green  across  the  vastness  of  the 
desert,  and  is  the  father  of  all  the  vegetation  near  it.  In  the  way  of  navigation,  it 
is  useless  ;  its  waters  being  too  shallow  in  great  portions  of  it  even  to  float  a  canoe, 
and  in  the  winter  it  is  boinid  in  ice.  Its  banks  are  low  and  sandy,  its  waters  mud- 
dy like  the  Missouri,  and  its  current  very  rapid.  In  consequence  of  its  shallowness 
it  is  very  easy  to  ford,  except  when  rams  have  swollen  the  stream,  and  then  its  ad- 
ditional force  makes  it  in  places  extremely  dangerous.  Though  it  varies  greatlv  as 
to  width,  its  average  breadth  is  about  two  rniles,  and  its  centre  is  frequently  diversi- 
fied with  most  beautiful  islands,  large  and  small,  covered  with  the  finest  trees  whose 
rich  and  clustering  foliajje  contrast  splendidly  with  the  sand-hills  and  wide  prairie 
plains  on  either  side.  On  each  side  of  the  river,  and  at  the  distance  of  about  three 
miles  from  either  bank,  run  a  continuous  line  of  eand-hills.  From  the  foot  of  these, 
to  the  water's  edge,  is  spread  a  sheet  of  lively  verdure,  and  on  the  other  side,  the 
boundless  level  is  only  lost  in  the  line  of  the  horizon. 

The  banks  of  the  Platte  ar«  generally  devoid  of  trees,  and  we  suffered  a  great 
scarcity  of  wood  previous  to  reaching  Fort  Larimie  in  consequence ;  but  we  fre- 
quently found  bunches  of  willows,  and  more  than  once,  the  remains  of  Indian 
wigwams  of  the  same  material,  eked  out  a  substitute  for  cooking  purposes.  Our 
general  expedient  was  to  pick  uj)  pieces  of  drift  wood  from  the  river,  during  the  day. 
These  we  could  get  at  the  expense  of  wading  to  our  knees,  and  they  supplied  all  our 
necessities  with  a  little  care.     But  little  fuel  is  required  if  proper  means  are  used  in 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


79 


consuming  it ;  and  to  proceed  correctly,  with  a  view  to  saving,  a  narrow  ditch  should 
first  be  dug  in  the  earth  about  eight  inches  wide,  a  foot  deep,  and  about  a  yard  long ; 
this  arrangement  confines  the  heat,  and  |)revcnts  the  wind  from  scattering  and 
wasting  the  firo. 

The  valley  of  the  Great  Platte  is  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  wide,  beyond  which 
line,  on  either  side,  the  prairies  lose  a  portion  of  their  fertility,  and  gradually  extend 
towards  the  west  in  arid  and  cheerless  wastes.  The  strip  along  the  banks,  of  which 
I  spoke  before,  is  filled  with  the  most  luxuriant  herbage,  the  sand  hills  which  bar  it 
from  the  plain  beyond,  are  about  three  miles"  through,  and  the  outer  prairie  intermi- 
nable. Within  these  sand  hills  you  will  find  numerous  vallies  covered  with  a  profuse 
bottom  vegetation,  and  leading  by  easy  tracks  from  plain  to  plain.  Upon  the 
outer  plain,  and  sometimes  in  the  sand  hills,  you  will  nnd  bufl'aloes  and  numbers  of 
white  wolves,  and  upon  the  intier  one,  range  the  antelope  and  deer.  When  the 
season  is  wet,  the  buffalo  find  plenty  of  water  in  the  ponds  or  puddles  of  the  outer 
plain,  and,  consequently,  are  not  forced  to  the  inner  one,  or  to  the  river  on  its  edge, 
for  water.  As  the  summer  advances,  and  the  ponds  dry  up,  these  animals  gradually 
approach  the  stream,  and  are  found  in  numbers  in  the  inner  section.  As  you  go 
along  the  edge  of  the  river,  you  are  struck  with  the  numerous  beaten  paths  diverging 
in  the  direction  of  the  sand  hills,  and  leading  across  the  surface  of  the  farther  plain. 
A  stranger  is  at  a  loss,  at  first,  to  account  for  such  signs  of  population  in  a  wilder- 
ness, but,  upon  inquiry,  they  arc  found  to  be  the  tracks  made  by  the  buflfalo,  in  their 
journey  to  the  banks  of  the  stream  for  water.  These  paths  are  cut  to  the  depth  of 
six  or  eight  inches  in  the  soil,  and  indicate  by  their  narrowness,  the  habit  of  the 
animals  in  these  excursions  to  proceed  in  narrow  file.  In  travelling  up  the  Platte, 
we  crossed  one  of  these  paths  at  almost  every  thirty  yards,  and  they  were  about  the 
only  annoyance  we  met  with  upon  the  surface  of  the  plain.  They  are  serviceable  in 
a  high  degree  in  one  view,  '"or  they  aiford  a  perfect  security  against  your  getting  lost, 
your  simple  resource  when  having  strayed  far  away  on  a  hunt,  being,  merely  to 
strike  a  buffalo  track,  and  you  are  sure  to  be  ui  a  road  leading  directly  to  the  river, 
by  the  nearest  route. 

The  whole  road  along  the  line  of  this  stream,  is  doubtless  the  best  in  the  world, 
considering  its  length.  The  greatest  inconvenience  attendant  on  its  travel  that  I 
know  of,  is  the  unconquerable  propensity  it  occasions  in  one  to  sleep  in  the  day  time. 
The  air  is  so  bland,  the  road  so  smooth,  and  the  motion  of  the  vehicle  so  regular, 
that  I  have  knowti  many  a  teamster  go  to  sleep  while  his  team  stood  winking  idly  in 
the  road  without  budging  a  step.  The  usual  custom  with  us  when  such  a  case  as 
this  would  occur,  was  for  each  wagon  in  turn  to  drive  cautiously  around  the  sluggard, 
and  leave  him  to  have  his  nap  out  in  the  middle  of  the  road.  It  would  someiimes 
happen  the  sleepur  would  not  awake  for  two  or  three  hours,  and  when  he  arrived 
that  time  behind  in  camp,  he  would  cither  swing  around  in  a  towering  passion,  or 
slink  out  of  the  reach  of  our  merciless  tiiuntiiigs,  heartily  ashamed. 

On  the  22(1  of  June  we  saw  the  fir.si  band  of  buffalo  on  the  plain  near  the  river. 
Til.  re  were  about  fifty  altogether — and  tliey  were  on  their  road  through  the  sand 
hil;s  to  ll'.c  river  o  drink.  We  immediately  mounted  and  gave  chase,  and  being 
fortunately  to  the  leeward,  ihey  did  not  get  scent  of  us  until  we  were  well  down  upon 
them  ;  then  by  pushing  our  horses  to  their  utmost  speed,  vve  managed  to  get  near 
enough  for  a  shot,  and  a  general  discharge  succeeded  in  bringing  down  two  of  the 
finest  of  the  lot. 

As  the  buffalo  is  sometimes  a  very  important'item  in  the  emigrant's  calculations 
for  food,  it  will  not  be  improper  for  me  here  to  devote  a  few  remarks  upon  the 
manner  of  obtaining  them. 

There  is  perhaps  no  chase  so  exciting  to  a  sportsman  as  a  buffalo  hunt,  and  the 
reader  can  readily  imagine  the  '.remendous  addition  its  interest  receives  when  the 
stomach  has  been  in  rebellion  .•'or  hours,  perhaps  for  days,  from  the  insidious 
excitements  of  the  fresh  prairie  air  The  mode  of  hunting  these  noble  animals  is 
very  simple.  They  are  most  generally  found  upon  the  outer  range,  grazing  near  the 
head  of  some  hollow,  leading  up  towards  the  sand  hills.  The  sight  of  the  buffalo 
is  very  dull,  but  their  scent,  by  its  superior  acutencss,  compensates  for  this  defect. 
You  must,  therefore,  always  manege,  if  possible,  to  get  to  the  leeward  of  them,  or 
you  are  almost  certain  to  see  the  whole  herd  scamper  off  before  you  arrive  iti  pulling 
distance.  As  an  instance  of  this,  I  one  day  saw  a  band  of  about  a  hundred  buffaloes 
at  two  miles  distance  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  running  up  its  line  on  a  par- 
allel with  our  train.  They  did  not  see  us,  but  the  wind  being  from  our  side,  they 
Ctught  the  scent  when  fibout  opposite  our  centre,  upon  which  they  turned  off 
instantly  at  a  right  angle  and  scoured  away  like  mad.    Approach  t.hern  to  the  leeward, 


\  J 


r^ 


£::T 


80 


HISTORY  OF  OREdON. 


however,  and  you  are  almost  certain  to  get  within  easy  shooting  distance  When 
you  have  discovered  a  herd  close  up  lo  tlie  line  of  the  hills,  you  should  station  your 
horses  in  some  hollow  near  at  hand,  (but  out  of  sight,)  ind  then  creep  cautiously  up 
to  your  position,  pick  out  your  animals,  and  fire,  one  at  a  time,  in  slow  succession. 
If  you  give  them  a  volley,  they  directly  scamper  off,  and  a  rapid  succession  of  shots 
is  followed  by  the  same  result ;  but  if  you  load  and  fire  slowly,  you  may  kill  several 
before  the  whole  herd  take  alarm.  I  have  seen  three  or  four  reel  down,  or  bound 
into  the  air  and  fall,  without  exciting  any  attention  from  their  indifferent  com- 
panions. When  you  have  fired  as  often  as  you  can,  with  effect,  from  the  posi- 
tion you  have  taken,  and  the  animals  have  moved  beyond  your  reach,  you  should 
hastt-n  to  your  horses,  mount  with  all  speed,  and  approach  as  near  as  possible 
without  showing  yourselves  ;  but  when  you  do,  put  your  horses  up  to  the  top  of 
their  speed  and  away  after  the  game  as  fast  as  you  can  go,  You  may  dash  at  a 
hand  of  buffaloes  not  more  than  a  hundred  yards  off,  and  though  you  may  think  you 
are  about  to  plunge  into  the  very  midst  of  them  in  a  moment,  you  will  find  if  your 
horii)  is  not  well  down  to  his  work,  that  they  will  slip  away  like  le^;erdemain. 
Though  they  appear  to  run  awkwardly,  they  contrive  to  "  let  the  links  out  "  in 
pretty  quick  succession,  and  if  you  suffer  them  to  get  any  kind  of  a  start,  you  must 
expect  to  have  a  hard  run  to  overtake  them.  The  better  plan,  therefore,  is  to  put 
your  horso  to  the  top  of  his  speed  at  once,  and  thus  by  bringing  the  matter  to  a 
Climax,  you  obviate  the  inconvenience  of  being  drawn  to  a  ilistance  from  the  camp, 
ami  of  making  your  jaded  steed  carry  a  wsarisome  load  »f  veral  miles,  back. 

If  you  hit  a  bull  from  cover  and  he  sees  no  enemy,  he  will  at  once  lie  dawn,  but 
if  you  press  him  on  the  0[  en  plain,  when  injured,  he  will  resent  the  wrong,  turn 
short  round,  bow  his  neck  and  waving  his  tail  to  and  fro  over  his  back,  face  you  for 
a  fight.  At  this  crisis  of  affairs,  it  is  well  to  show  him  some  respect,  and  keep  at  a 
convenient  distance.  If  you  will  content  yourself  with  fifty  yards  he  will  stand  and 
receive  your  fire  all  day.  As  soon  as  vou  bring  him  onc<!  at  bay  you  are  sure  of 
him,  for  you  may  fire  as  often  as  you  please,  and  the  oiiiy  indication  he  gives  before 
going  down,  of  having  received  a  wr.iind,  is  by  a  furious  kicking  at  the  assaults  of 
his  deadly  visitant.  You  must  not  attempt  to  kill  him  by  shooting  at  his  head,  for 
you  will  only  spatter  your  ineffectual  lead  upon  his  frontal  bone,  but  shoot  him  behind 
the  shoulder  at  the  bulge  of  the  ribs,  or  just  below  the  back  bone  in  the  same 
latitude,  and  you  will  pass  your  ball  directly  through  the  thick  part  of  the  lungs. 
This  is  the  most  deadly  of  all  shots,  for  the  flow  of  blood  stifles  his  respiration  and 
suffocates  him  at  once.  When  excited  these  animals  are  very  hard  to  kill,  and  unless 
when  wounded  in  this  fatal  spot,  I  have  seen  ihem  so  tenacious  of  existence  as 
to  live  for  hours,  even  with  two  or  three  bullets  through  their  hearts. 

Ttie  animal  though  it  generally  flies  pursuit,  is  capable  of  the  most  romantic  deeds 
of  daring.  An  instance  of  this  kind  occurred  on  the  27th  of  June.  We  had  stopped 
our  wagons  at  noon  within  half  a  mile  of  the  river,  and  while  enjoying  the  comforts 
of  our  mid-day  meal,  we  discovered  seven  large  buffalo  bulls  slowly  moving  up  the 
opposite  shore  of  the  river.  When  they  got  directly  opposite  our  encampment, 
they  turned  and  plunged  suddenly  into  the  stream  and  swam  directly  towards  us  as 
ttraight  as  they  could  come,  in  the  face  of  wagons,  team,  cattle,  horses,  men  and 
&l\.  Every  man  prepared  his  gun,  and  those  on  the  extreme  ends  of  the  line, 
stretched  down  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  thus  forming  a  complete  semicircle  of  death 
for  their  reception.  Notwithstanding  we  were  thus  prepared  for  their  approach,  we 
all  felt  certain  they  wow';'  turn  ■  '1  and  recross  the  river;  but  to  our  complete  as- 
tonishment, on  they  cfi  regai  iless  of  our  grim  and  threatening  array.  They 
were  received  with  a  iienendous  bombardmcn'  and  down  wont  every  bellowing 
vagabond  to  the  grounc'..  Several  o!  them  ros.  lO  their  feet,  but  the  storm  of  death 
bore  them  back  again  u^^on  the  sod  and  not  a  single  one  escaped  to  profit  by  this 
lesson  of  imprudence. 

There  is  perhaps  no  flesh  more  delicious  to  a  traveller's  appetite  than  buffalo 
meat,  particularly  that  cut  from  a  fat  young  buffalo  cow ;  and  it  has  the  peculiar 
advantage  of  allowing  you  to  eat  as  much  as  you  please  without  either  surfeit  or 
oppression.  I  shall  never  forget  t>he  exquisite  meal  I  made  on  the  evening  of  the 
first  ot  June.  I  had  been  out  hunting  all  day,  was  very  weary,  and  as  hungry  as  a 
whole  wilderness  of  tigers.  Out  of  compassion  for  my  complete  fatigue,  Mrs 
Burnett  cooked  six  large  slices  from  a  fat  young  buffalo  for  my  supper.  My  extrava- 
gant hunger  induced  me  to  believe  when  I  first  saw  the  formidable  array  served  up, 
that  I  could  readily  dispose  of  three  of  them.  I  did  cat  three  of  them,  but  I  found 
they  were  but  the  prologue  to  the  fourth,  the  fourth  to  the  fifth,  and  that  to  the 
aixth,  and  I  verily  believe  that  had  the  line  stretched  out  to  the  crack  of  doom," 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


81 


I  should  havo  staked  my  fate  upon  another  and  another  collop  of  the  prairie  king. 
This  story  hardly  does  me  credit,  but  the  worst  is  yet  to  come,  for  two  hours  af- 
terward, I  shared  the  supper  of  Dumberton,  and  on  passing  C'tptain  Gant'a  tent 
on  my  way  home,  I  accepted  an  invitation  from  him  to  a  bit  of  broiled  tongue ;  yet 
even  after  this,  I  went  to  bed  with  an  unsatisfied  appetite.  I  am  no  cormorant, 
though  I  must  admit  I  acted  very  much  like  one  on  this  occasion.  My  only  contio- 
laiion  and  excuse,  however,  is  that  I  was  not  a  single  instance  of  voracity  in  injr 
attacks  upon  broiled  buffalo  meat. 


CHAPTER  V. 


\9 

^d 


ve 

3- 

th 

13 


Progress  nf  travel — Grand  complimentary  ball  to  the  Rocky  Mountains — Route 
through  the  m.mntains — Its  points — lis  general  character — Passage  through  the 
past — Arrival  in  Oregon. 

On  the  29th  of  .fune,  we  crossed  the  south  fork  of  the  Platte.  On  the  Ist  of  July 
we  crossed  the  north  fork  at  a  distance  of  thirty-one  miles  from  the  passage  the 
day  but  one  before,  and  tken  proceeded  along  its  northern  bank  for  a  period  of  nine 
days,  passing  in  succession  the  points  on  the  route  known  as  "  Cedar  Grove,"  "  the 
Solitary  Tower,"  "  the  Chimney,"  and  "  Scott's  Bluffs,"  until  we  arrived  at  F'ort 
Larimie  on  the  9th  ;  thus  averaging,  from  the  time  of  our  crossing  the  south  fork 
on  the  morning  of  the  29th  nf  June,  about  sixteen  miles  a  day.  During  this  period, 
and  this  space  of  march,  the  weather  was  uninterruptedly  fine,  the  thermometer 
ranging  from  74'^  to  83°,  and  the  face  of  the  road  suffering  no  sensible  variation. 
We  paused  for  a  day  at  Fort  Larimie,  and  resumed  our  march  on  the  morning  of 
the  11th.  From  this  point  thereout,  we  suffered  no  further  scarcity  of  timber,  but 
we  now  began  to  encounter  a  few  more  difficulties  from  the  surface  of  the  ruad. 
This  we  found  to  be  interrupted  by  bolder  undulations,  and  after  we  had  travelled 
eight  imiles  further  westward,  we  came  to  the  debris,  as  it  may  be  called,  of  the 
Black  Hills,  whose  occasional  abrupt  inclinations,  now  and  then  caused  our  teams 
a  little  extra  straining,  but  did  not  require  us  to  resort  to  double  ones.  This  lasted 
but  for  a  short  distance,  however,  and  we  were  soon  on  a  level  route  again.  On 
the  16th  we  struck  the  Sweetwater,  a  beautiful  little  tributary  of  the  Flatte,  and 
following  its  course  for  one  hundred  miles,  at  last  came  in  view,  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  30th,  of  the  eternal  snows  of  the  Kooky  Mountains.  We  still  had  an  open 
route  before  us,  and  a  portion  of  the  day  remained  to  avail  ourselves  of  it  if  we 
pleased  ;  but  this  event  was  worthy  of  the  commemoration  of  an  encampment,  and 
we  accordingly  wound  up  the  line  two  hours  earlier  than  usual.    The  hunters  of  our 

Earty  had  been  fortunate  this  day  in  obtaining  some  fine  antelope  and  two  fat  young 
uffaloes,  and  we  set  out  for  a  regular  feast.  'A  hen  the  meal  was  over,  and  when 
the  prospective  perils  which  lay  in  the  entrails  of  those  grim  giants  had  been  can- 
rassed  again  and  again,  we  broke  from  all  grave  considerations  to  consecrate  the 
evening  lo  merriment.  The  night  was  beau'iful,  scarcely  a  breath  stirred  the  air, 
and  the  bright  stars  in  the  blue  vault  above,  looked  brighter  than  ever.  The  camp 
fires  streamiiig  upwards  from  the  prairie  plains,  flooded  the  tents  with  their  mellow 
light,  and  made  the  tops  of  the  quadrangular  barricade  of  wagons,  look  like  a  forti- 
fication of  molten  gold.  Jim  Wayne's  fiddle  was  at  once  in  request,  and  set  after 
set  went  in  upon  the  sward  to  foot  a  measure  to  its  notes.  McFarley  and  the  rep- 
resentative of  Big  Pigeon  forgot  in  the  moment  all  the  bickerings  of  their  ambi- 
tion, and  formed  two  of  a  party  (amongst  whom  was  my  old  friend.  Green,  the 
Missuurian,)  who  listened  to  the  Indian  traditions  of  Captain  Gant,  and  then  told 
their  own  wonderful  stories  in  return.  The  revelry  was  kept  up  till  a  late  houj, 
and  the  result  was,  that  the  whole  party  went  to  bed  worn  out  with  pleasure  and 
fatigue.  From  this  point  we  pursued  a  directly  western  course,  croiisiiig  in  our 
route  two  creeks  called  '*  Big  Sandy"  and."  Little  Sandy,"  and  three  or  four  others, 
until  we  struck  Green  river,  a  tributary  of  the  Colorado,  which  eiipties  its  waters 
into  the  Pacific,  in  the  Mexican  bay  of  San  Francisco.  We  followed  Green  river 
down  its  course  through  the  mountains  for  twenty  miles,  where  we  (truck  a  branch 
of  it  called  Black's  fork.  From  thence  we  turned  off  in  a  westerly  direction  for 
thirty  miles,  to  Fort  Bridger.  Still  west  we  proceeded  for  twenty  more,  to  a  branch 
of  the  Great  Bear  river,  called  Big  Muddy,  and  down  this  branch  for  thirty-seven 
miles  of  fine  travel,  in  a  north  westerly  direction  to  Great  Bear  river  itself.  We 
now  took  up  the  course  of  Great  Bear  river,  and  following  it  in  a  north  westerly 

6 


i'l 


82 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


I 


direction  for  fifty-seven  miles,  passed  a  range  of  hills  which  run  down  nearly  to  it9 
bank ;  and  continuing  our  conrss  fur  thirty-eight  miles  more,  arrived  at  the  Great 
Soda  springs.  Frora  the  Great  Soda  Sprrngs,  which  we  left  on  the  27th  August, 
we  took  the  course  of  a  vnlley  leading  to  the  great  dividing  ridge  between  us  and 
Oregon,  and  after  paning  up  it  to  the  distance  of  about  forty-five  or  fifty  miles, 
came  upon  the  wide  depression  of  the  mountains  that  was  to  lead  us  into  the  pro- 
mised land.  This  remarkable  pass  is  so  gentle  in  its  slope,  as  to  afford  no  obstacle 
for  the  heaviest  loaded  wagons ;  and,  without  any  difficulty  at  all,  our  most  cum- 
brous teams  passed  through  it  into  the  valley  of  the  Saptin,  the  southern  branch  of 
the  Columbia.  This  aaturul  avenue,  though  surronnded,  nay,  almost  overhung,  in 
pattH,  with  immense  cragH  of  frowning  desolation,  was  covered,  generally,  with  the 
softest  and  most  delightful  verdure  that  had  for  a  long  timo  met  our  eyes.  A 
beautiful  little  brook  meandered  through  it ;  flowers  and  trees  were  flourishing 
along  it  in  profusion,  and  tha  sweet  scent  and  soft  air  that  floated  in  our  faces  ofT  its 
fields,  half  persuaded  us  that  we  were  suffering  the  delusion  of  some  fairy  dream. 
Impatient  of  delay,  some  dozen  or  two  of  us  on  horseback,  plunged  into  the  inviting 
scene,  and  led  the  way  at  a  gallop  to  a  view  of  the  region  beyond. 

We  soon  arrived  at  the  waters  of  the  Portneuf,  and  from  this  point  reined  up 
our  panting  steeds  to  gaze  upon  the  valley  of  the  Saptin  which  lay  at  last  before 
us.  In  an  instant  every  head  was  uncovered,  and  a  cheer  rang  back  into  the 
gorge  to  the  ears  of  our  companions,  which  made  every  team  strain  and  wagon 
erack  with  renewed  exertion.  It  is  impossible  to  desctibe  the  ei.  husiasm  which 
this  event  created  in  our  party.  Each  wagon  as  it  arrived  at  the  |  nt  unfolding 
to  the  view  the  region  which  had  been  the  object  of  our  dearest  ii>^  [les  and  the 
occasion  of  our  weary  travel,  set  up  a  cheer,  which  taken  up  by  those  behind^ 
rang  through  every  sinuosity  of  the  pass  and  reverberated  along  the  sides  of  tho 
beetling  crags  which  hemmed  it  in.  Jim  Wayne  who  was  always  "  about" 
when  any  thing  of  moment  was  afoot,  was  among  the  foremost  to  reach  tha 
point  of  sight,  and  there,  with  his  bugle  which  he  had  burnished  and  swung 
around  his  neck  for  the  occasion,  he  planted  himself,  receiving  every  wagon  with 
"Yankee  Doodle,"  "Hail  Columbia,"  or  "The  Star-spangled  Banner,"  and  only 
pausing  in  the  tunes,  to  wave  the  instrument  in  the  air,  in  immense  sweeps,  to  the 
measure  of  the  answering  shouts. 

This  passage  was  performed  on  the  39th  of  August,  and  on  the  afternoon 
of  that  day  we  pitched  our  tents  in  the  valley  of  the  southern  arm  of  the  great 
River  of  the  West.  The  region  we  had  passed  through  from  the  30tli  July  up  to  the 
29th  August,  comprised  all  the  passes  through  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  was  by 
fiir  the  most  arduous  and  difficult  portion  of  the  whole  journey.  We  performed  it, 
however,  without  sustaining  any  loss  or  injury  beyond  the  bursting  cf  a  single  tire, 
and  yet  averaged  while  doing  it,  the  distance  of  about  twelve  miles  a  day.  In  many 
pnrts  of  this  region  we  had  to  move  sharply  to  secure  water  and  range  for  our  cattle, 
and  the  scarcity  of  game,  forced  us,  so  far  as  we  were  personally  concerned,  pretty 
much  upon  the  resources  of  our  private  larders.  Though  consisting  to  a  large  extent 
of  beetling  rock,  arid  plains,  craggy  defiles  and  frowning  gorges,  Nature  has  provided 
throughout  a  large  portion  of  this  route,  a  continuous  line  of  valleys,  nourished  by 
gentle  rivers,  whose  fertile  banks  furnish  abundant  pasture  for  your  cattle,  and  pro- 
vide a  road  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  limits  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  through 
the  spurs  of  the  intermediate  region,  better  than  many  of  the  wagon  rcutes  in  some 
of  the  aastem  states.  The  greater  portion  of  this  country,  however,  is  a  sterile, 
flinty  waste,  and  except  in  occasional  dots,  and  in  the  green  ribbons  that  bind  the 
edges  of  the  stream,  is  worthless  for  agricultural  purposes.  One  of  the  features 
of  this  section,  of  singular  interest,  is  the  number  of  soda  springs  it  contains,  of  a 
most  remarkable  character.  They  are  situated  mostly  on  Gfreat  Bear  river,  at  tho 
end  of  the  valley  leading  up  to  the  pass.  There  you  will  find  them,  bubbling,  and 
foaming,  and  sending  up  from  their  clear  depths  and  gravelly  bottoms  a  continual 
discharge  of  gas  and  steam,  as  though  they  ware  sunken  cauldrons  of  boiling  water. 
They  are  represented  to  possess  highly  medicinal  qualities,  and  it  is  said  the  Indians 
set  a  great  reliance  upon  their  virtues  for  a  numerous  class  of  disorders.  One  of 
these  springs  makes  a  loud  bubbling  sound,  which  can  be  heard  at  a  great  distance, 
and  there  are  others  which  eject  their  waters  some  distance  into  the  air;  and  others, 
m  addition  to  these  peculiarities,  have  a  temperature  above  blood  heat.  To  such  an 
tTtent  do  these  phenomena  prevail,  that  the  surface  of  the  river,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  those  on  the  shore,  is  fretted  for  several  hundred  yards  with  large  number» 
ot  ihem,  some  of  which  force  their  jets  many  inches  above  the  surface.  The 
scenery  aboun  this  spot  is  wild  and  impressive ;    but   though   composed  mostly 


HISTORY  or  OBEOON. 


88 


of  towering  rocks,  the  fnithful  bunch  of  gross  still  fastens  to  the  vb1«b,  and  ofltrs  id 
tribute  of  sustenance  and  rcfreahninnt  to  the  cattle. 

On  the  nnorning  of  the  30th,  we  performed  our  orisons  for  the  first  time  in  Oregon. 

For  the  first  time  in  many  dreary  days  the  beetling  crags  of  the  Kouky  Mountains 
ran  their  frowning  barritrs  in  our  rear,  and  a  broad  unbrekcn  plain  spread  out 
before  us.  Our  hearts  swelled  with  gratitude  and  joy,  and  with  these  combined 
emotions  came  a  mingling  of  surprize,  that  the  passage  through  the  valley  and  the 
shadow  of  that  misrepresented  gorge,  had  proved  so  slightly  fermidable  in  its  char- 
acter. This  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  most  of  the  pioneers  upon 
the  route,  from  need  of  the  experience  of  others  who  had  gone  before,  in  the  direction 
of  their  preparations,  set  out  without  providing  properly  sgainst  the  difliculties  and 
privations  of  the  route.  Neglecting  the  important  item  of  provioions,  they  havo 
relied  entirely  upon  their  rifies,  and  their  chance  for  game,  and  the  rcHull  has  been, 
that  their  stomachs,  pinched  by  occasional  deprivation,  have  spread  their  dissatisfac- 
tion to  the  mind,  and  magnified  and  discolored  every  difficulty  and  trifling  inconve- 
nience into  a  monstrosity  of  hardship.  It  may  readily  bo  imagined,  that  a  traveller 
on  horseback,  who  was  obliged  to  fly  from  rise  to  set  of  sun,  over  a  barren  patch 
of  desert  to  obtain  range  and  food,  would  be  anything  but  flattering  in  his  descrip- 
tions of  the  scene  of  his  sufferings  and  perils ;  but  a  well  appointed  caravan,  carrying 
water  in  their  vehicles,  and  driving  their  provender  along  with  them,  would  enjoy  a 

J;reater  measure  of  contentment,  end  be  inclined  to  treat  the  account  of  their  way- 
aring  with  a  far  greater  degree  of  fairness  and  liberality.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say, 
as  I  said  before,  that  any  wagon  which  could  perform  the  journey  from  Kentucky  to 
Missouri,  can  as  well  undertake  the  whole  of  this  route,  and  there  need  be  no  dread 
of  difliculties,  in  the  way  of  natural  obstruction.s,  of  a  more  serious  character. 
I  would  be  willing  to  traverse  this  road  twice  over  again,  if  I  possessed  the  means 
to  purchase  cattle  in  the  States,  and  this  opinion  will  appear  less  strange,  when  I 
assure  the  reader  that  several  of  the  female  emigrants  feel  in  the  same  wajr  disposed 
for  the  pleasures  of  a  second  expedition.  It  is  true,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  labor  to 
perform  on  the  road  ;  but  the  weather  is  so  dry,  ard  the  air  so  pure  and  bland,  that 
one  turns  to  it,  as  ho  does  to  the  savory  meals  of  the  prairie,  with  a  double  alacrity 
and  relish.  Besides,  many  of  the  cares  as  well  as  troubles  of  a  first  expedition, 
would  be  avoided  in  the  second.  Experience  would  be  uur  pioneer,  and  th»  con- 
tinual apprehension  of  difficulties  of  an  unknown  eharactcr  ahead,  would  vanish. 
We  would  not  be  continually  harassed,  whether  we  should  abandon  our  horses  at 
the  pass,  whether  we  should  be  out  of  provisions,  or  whether  the  route  was  practi- 
cable for  travellers  like  us,  at  all !  These  uncertainties  are  dispersed  farever. 
Emigrants  may  come  naw  without  fear.  They  will  find  a  road  broken  to  their  use ; 
they  know  the  quantity  of  provisions  they  need ;  they  know  also  the  supplies  they 
can  gather  by  their  rifles ;  they  know  that  they  will  not  suffer  for  want  of  water, 
and  they  have  also  been  made  aware  that  all  the  property  they  bring  with  them,  ia 
worth  double  its  value  as  soon  as  they  arrive.  Fuel,  it  is  true,  is  scarce  at  some 
|,:int8,  but  proper  care  and  a  little  trouble,  will  provide  against  any  sufl'ering  for 
want  of  that. 

You  travel  along  the  banks  of  streams  all  the  way,  and  you  can  almost  alwaya 
reap  a  harvest  of  dry  willows  en  the  surface  of  the  waters,  and  where  these  do  not 
offer,  you  find  an  equivalent  resource  in  the  sedges  of  their  shores. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Arrival  at  Fort  Hall— The  three  regions  of  Oregon— Salmon  Falls— The  Saptin 
and  (he  Platte— Fait  Boise— Burnt  River—The  Lone  Pine—"  Woodman  spare 
that  tree  "—The  Grand  Round— Scientific  speculation  of  Mr.  M'^  Farley— A  fall  of 
■An  Indian  traffic. 


snow- 


We  killed  a  bullock  this  morning  in  a  fit  of  extravagance,  and  after  replenishing 
ourselves  with  a  most  substantial  breakfast,  set  out  with  rcaewed  energies  and 
brightened  prospects.  We  arrived  in  the  afternoon  at  Fort  Hall,  a  trading  post  be- 
longing to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com|)any,  on  the  Snake  or  Saptin  River,  and  en- 
camped in  a  fine  piece  of  timber  land,  under  cover  of  its  wooden  battlements.  We 
past  a  most  pleasant  evening  in  exchanging  civilities  with  its  inmates,  who  were  not 
a  little  surprised  at  this  tremendous  irruption  m  their  solitude.  Some  of  the 
members  told  us  that  they  could  scarcely  believe  their  eyes  when  they  saw  the  im- 


:-i''l 


I 


.  .f. 


84 


HISTORY  or  ORKOON. 


J'N.<: 


V:  :  ,;:„. 


■^ 


W:l 


mnnse  ntretch  of  our  line,  the  number  of  our  lowing  hcrdi  and  our  iqunds  of  prancing 
horsemen,  nnd  iliey  inquired  laughingly  if  we  had  coinn  to  conquer  ()regon.  or  devour 
it  out  of  hand.  They  treated  ui,  however,  with  every  attention,  and  an*  ored  with 
the  utmoat  patience  and  particularity,  all  uur  inquiriea  in  relation  to  the  country. 

We  paused  here  a  day  to  recruit  our  cattle,  end  when  we  act  out  in  the  morning 
following,  (lat  Sept«mbfcr,)  we  received  a  paninfr  aalutc  from  one  of  tf>r  gunaof  the 
fort,  and  answered  it  with  a  volley  from  our  amhll  arma.  Our  journev  to  day  com* 
mcnced  through  a  piece  of  country  well  timbered,  and  ponaeaiins  \  fijii  apparently 
capable  of  raising  the  graina  and  vegetables  of  the  Statca.  I  learned,  however,  that 
the  climate  of  tliia  region  la  aubject  to  frequent  froata,  the  aeverity  of  which  are 
fatal  to  agraulturrl  operations  of  any  magnitude. 

Oregon,  or  the  territory  drained  by  the  Columbia,  ia  divided  by  immenae  mountain 
range*  into  three  diatinct  regions,  the  climate  and  other  natural  tlmracterialica  ef 
which  are  cntirelv  dilTerent  from  each  other.  The  first  region  ia  that  lying  along 
the  coat>t  of  the  Pacific,  and  extending  in  the  interior  to  the  line  of  the  Cascade 
range ;  the  second  region  lies  between  the  (Cascade  chain  and  the  Ulue  mountainii 
and  the  third,  between  the  Ulue  and  the  Kocky  mountains. 

The  first  of  tliese  haa  a  warm,  dry  and  regular  climate,  and  it  ia  the  abode  of 
continual  fartility.  The  second,  or  middle  region,  conaista  chiefly  of  plains  between 
ridges  of  mountaina,  the  soil  of  which  is  poor.  The  timber  also  ia  very  scarce  upon 
it,  and  what  there  ia  \s  soft  and  poor.  The  climate  during  the  summer  is  agreeable 
and  salubrious  ;  but  tho  winter  brings  with  it  frequent  rains.  Many  of  its  plains, 
though  generally  unfit  for  agricultural  purposes,  aro  covered  continually  with  an 
abundant  crop  of  short  grass,  which  renders  it  a  splendid  field  for  raising  stock,  and 
for  grazing  po'posea. 

The  third  region  is  called  the  high  country,  and  is  a  mere  desert,  consisting  of 
ridges  of  rocka  of  volcanic  strata  and  alternate  sandy  plains.  It  has  its  occasional 
fertile  spotn,  it  is  t.  ue,  but  they  are  few  and  far  between.  Its  distinguishing  features 
are  its  excessive  dryness,  and  the  extraordinary  difference  of  the  temperatuio  be- 
tween night  and  day.  Thia  extremity  amounting  sometimes  to  a  variation  oi  40  or 
even  60  degrees,  ia  modi'ied  aomawhat  in  the  approach  toward  the  middle  region, 
but  this  outsi'ie  section  ia  doubtlcaa  incapable  of  being  reclaimed  to  any  great  extent 
by  the  hand  of  ncan  *  We  emerged  from  the  patch  of  vegetation  around  Fort  Hall 
in  a  few  hourf  o^on  wide  barren  plains  of  yellow  sandy  clay,  which  among  its  abort 
a;  <1  dry  grnss,  bore  nothing  but  the  wild  wormwood  and  the  prickly  pear,  with  hero 
and  Utcii  «oine  stunted  cotton  wood  or  willow. 

We  croasfid  the  Portneuf  at  the  distance  of  eleven  miles  from  our  starting  place, 
and  still  kept  along  the  lower  bank  of  the  Saptin,  the  country  remainmg  the  same 
in  its  character — 'a  desert  wilderness  except  in  the  partial  vegetation  on  its  streams. 
We  found  tho  evenings  now  getting  to  be  quite  cold  ;  the  nipping  air  driving  us  to 
our  camp  fires  and  directing  our  attention  to  extra  coverlets ;  but  the  morning  sua 
after  getting  an  hour  high,  would  give  us  another  temperature,  and  till  evening  came 
again,  we  would  have  genial  summer  weather. 

Wo  reached  the  Salmon  Falls  (or  Fishing  Falls,  as  they  are  called  from  the  great 
numbers  of  fish  which  abound  in  them)  on  tho  11th,  after  having  passed  through  a 
piece  of  country  still  the  same  in  its  barren  and  volcanic  character,  for  the  distance  of 
one  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  Fort  Hall.  We  here  caught  an  abundance  of 
fine  salmon,  and  after  a  short  enjoyment  of  the  sport,  moved  onward  on  our  course. 
Our  eagerness,  now  that  we  had  conquered  the  Kocky  mountains,  to  get  to  the 
limit  of  our  final  destination,  was  extreme. 

On  the  14th  we  arrived  at  Boiling  Spring.  The  country  around  this  spot  was 
wild  in  the  extreme,  the  same  arid,  volcanic  plain,  flowing  its  sterile  billows  on  be- 
fore us — a  vast  lake  of  barren  waste,  hemmed  in  and  bound  by  shores  of  beetling 
crags  and  towering  mountains. 

We  were  all  the  journey  up  to  this  point,  still  on  the  western  bank  of  tho  Snake 
or,  Saptin  rivsr,  but  we  crossed  to  its  eastern  shore  above  these  springs,  and  followed 
the  course  of  the  other  side.  As  this  river  is  of  the  same  importance  to  the  emigrant 
for  his  travel  in  this  region,  as  the  Great  Platte  is  for  the  Western  Prairies,  it  is 
deserving  of  a  special  notice.  The  Platte  is  a  tributary  to  the  Miaaouri,  and  unrolls 
its  loveliness  and  vegetation  from  the  States  to  the  base  of  the  Rocky  mountains ; 
while  the  Saptin  takes  up  the  task  on  the  western  side  of  this  stupendous  barrier 
and  leads  the  wayfarer  in  the  same  manner  along  its  banks,  until  it  yields  its 
waters  to  the  Columbia  near  Wallawalla. 

•  Mr.  Wyeth  saw  the  thermometer  on  the  banks  of  Snakn  river,  in  August,  1832,  mark  eighteen 
degress  of  farenheit  at  sunrise,  and  ninety  two  degrees  at  noon  of  the  same  day. 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


priricing 
ir  devour 
!rei)  with 
(untry. 
morning 
ns  of  the 
day  com* 
ppiirenily 
ever,  that 
which  ate 

mountain 
leriatica  ef 
^inR  along 
le  Cascade 
mountainii 

te  abode  of 
lis  between 
icBice  upon 
9  agreeable 
f  its  plaioa, 
illy  with  an 
I  »tock,  and 

sonaisting  of 
s  occasional 
hing  featurea 
iperatuie  be- 
iiion  oi  40  or 
iddle  region, 
J  great  extent 
|nd  Fort  Hall 
long  its  short 
lar,  *"ith  hem 

torting  place, 
Sng  the  same 
[i  its  slreama. 
idriving  us  to 
I  morning  sun 
Weniug  came 

torn  the  great 
led  through  a 
l\e  distance  of 
Inbundance  of 
In  our  course, 
get  to  the 

khis  spot  was 
lillows  on  be- 
es of  beetling 

[of  tht)  Snake 

and  followed 

the  emigrant 

IPrairies,  it  is 

^i,  and  unrolla 

mountains ; 

[jdous  barrier 

it  yields  its 

I,  mark  eighteen 


k  of  the  8nptiu  into  a  vHllKy  stretcli- 
VVe  crossed  thia  stream  at  its  junc- 
HitHt,  '11  bank  of  the  latter  fur  eight  or 
'his      IS  on  the  morning  of  the  20th 
'trv  had  changed  its  character  en- 
dp  ~t',  instead  of  parched  anil  sandy 
were   j^laildoned  with  green  vales, 


Another  striking  feature  of  similarity  is,  that  the  country  on  either  side  of  the 
Rocky  niountairia  is  a  dry  and  barren  deiicrt  for  the  space  of  two  hundred  miles. 
I'hroii^h  thiiie  Nierraa  roll  the  streams  oi  the  renpective  rivers,  trellicing  llie  vast  und 
naked  waHies  witli  their  8tri|i»  of  fruitful  green. 

The  head  watura  of  the  Lewi«,  Snake  ur  Saplin  river,  as  it  is  variously  called,  rise 
in  tile  mountHUiH  between  the  4V!d  and  44lh  degree  of  latitude.  Thence  it  flows 
westwardly,  pa«8iii|{  through  a  ridge  uf  the  Hluo  mountaina,  and  su  on  north-west- 
wardly  to  its  junction  with  the  Columbia,  receiving  in  its  way  the  Malado,  the  Wap- 
titacos,  the  Salmon  liiver,  the  Malheur,  the  Burnt  Kiver,  Powder  Kiver,  and  oihers 
of  le«s  signiticanre.  hs  waters  are  very  clear,  and  its  current  is,  at  some  places,  ex- 
tremely swift.  The  rapida  on  it  are  extensive  and  frequent,  and  in  consequence, 
the  river  is  not  navigiible,  exce|)t  in  occasional  spots  of  still  water  between. 

Forty-eight  miles  more  through  deserts  spriDkled  with  volcanic  rock,  and  we  struck 
the  Uois^  river.     We  had  diverged  fioin  il 
iiig  north  west,  which  brought  us  to  ihe  II 
tion  with  the  Snpiin,  and  thence  follows 
nine  miles,  until  wo  arrived  at  Fort  IJo 
September.      For  the  last  twenty  miles,  i  . 
tirely,     As  soon  as  we  struck  the  r.illey  o 
plains,  cut   rock  and  frowning  craf>x,  our 

flowering  shrubs  and  clustering  timber  lands.  The  grateful  sight  was  welcomed 
with  a  common  spring  of  joy,  and  our  wearied  and  hunger  pinched  cattle  revelled  in 
the  luxuries  of  its  heavy  herbage. 

On  the  23d  we  left  Fort  Boise,  and  after  travelling  over  an  excellent  road  for 
fifteen  miles,  we  came  to  a  creek  in  the  latter  part  of  the  afternoon.  This  wo  cross- 
ed without  serious  difficulty,  and  encamped  upon  its  western  bank.  Throughout 
this  day  the  wind  had  blown  quite  cool  from  the  N.  W.  and  we  had  to  suti'er  also 
from  an  impoverished  and  scanty  range  and  a  scarcity  of  fuel. 

On  the  23d  we  started  oH  again  with  the  same  cutting  wind  that  had  visited  us 
the  day  before,  and  which  staid  with  us  over  night.  Our  road  to  day  was  tolerably 
good,  and  after  having  accomplished  sixteen  miles  over  it,  we  brought  our  day's  jour- 
ney to  a  close  on  the  bank  uf  a  dry  creek,  with  no  water  at  hand,  except  what  we 
found  in  a  sort  of  puddle  in  its  bed.  Two  miles  further  on  would  have  taken  us  to 
a  good  encampment,  with  plenty  of  fine  range  and  water,  but  the  Indian  pilot  who 
had  been  employed  for  us  by  Ur.  Whitman  was  ahead,  and  out  of  reach  with  the 
foremost  wagons. 

On  the  24th  we  had  to  encounter  a  very  hilly  road,  which  retarded  our  progress 
most  seriously.  The  lulls,  however,  were  not  high,  neither  were  they  rugged  or 
abrupt,  but  they  were  frequent  and  thence  our  ditficulty.  We  saw  the  Saptin  to 
day  for  the  last  time,  for  it  now  left  our  track  in  a  bold  northward  curve  till  it  re- 
turned to  the  Columbia  near  Wallawalla.  We  were  able  to  make  no  more  than  ten 
miles  to  day,  encamping  at  the  close  upon  another  creek  called  Burnt  river.  This 
stream  derives  its  title  from  the  numerous  (ires  which  have  consumed  portions  of  the 
timber  in  its  banks.  This  consists  principally  of  cotton  wood  and  birch,  which 
abound  in  its  valley  ;  and  these  are  also  intermixed  with  aspen  and  willow.  The 
stream  docs  not  deserve  ihe  name  of  a  river,  being  merely  an  ordinary  sized  creek, 
but  as  others  of  less  importance  claim  that  title  in  this  region,  it  may  as  well  be 
accorded  to  it. 

September  25th  we  started  up  the  line  of  the  Burnt  river.  The  valley  of  the 
stream  is  very  narrow,  at  some  points  being  not  more  than  twenty  yards  across,  and 
it  is  hemmed  in  by  mountains  on  cither  side.  Though  it  abounds  in  timber,  quite 
a  safe  and  passable  road  could  be  made  through  it  by  clearing  out  the  space  for  a 
track,  but  to  do  this  effectually,  several  crossings  of  the  stream  would  have  to  be 
made.  This  could  easily  be  performed  in  consequence  of  its  low  banks  and  firm 
bottom,  but  we  had  no  time  to  clear  out  the  way,  and  of  lute,  the  tortuousness  of 
the  roads  had  so  scattered  and  divided  our  company,  that  we  proceeded  hcltcr 
skelter  along  in  separate  detachments,  each  following,  as  best  it  could,  the  careless 
lead  of  those  who  went  before.  We  were  thus  betrayed  into  many  difficulties  that 
might  have  been  avoided,  if  an  orderly  arrangement  had  been  preserved.  Some- 
limes  the  turn  only  of  a  few  yards  would  have  saved  us  the  most  obstructive  hi'ls 
and  hollows,  and  I  am  informed  that  the  course  of  the  river  could  have  been  avoided 
altogether  by  a  turn  to  the  left,  which  strikes  the  trail  near  Powder  river,  running  in 
an  extensive  plain,  remarkable  for  a  solitary  tree  in  its  midst,  known  as  "  The  Lone 
Pine."     But  if  this  should   not  bo  the  case,*  I  would  advise  future  emigrants  to 

'  It  is  the  case- 


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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STMET 

WnSTH.N.Y.  USSO 

(716)872-4503 


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S6 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON'. 


seleit  some  eight  or  ten  good  men  to  send  on  ahead,  to  search  for  the  most  eligible 
route,  and,  if  necessary,  to  clear  one.  This  will  sare  them  much  trouble.  The 
rango  from  this  spot  to  the  end  of  the  journey  is  most  excellent ;  the  bunch  grass 
is  plenty  in  the  valleys  and  in  the  sides  of  the  hills,  and  there  are  plenty  of  rushes 
along  the  banks  of  this  stream.     We  made  but  eight  miles  to  day. 

On  the  26tb,  the  road  got  worse,  if  anything,  than  before,  and  after  floundering 
through  hills  and  hollows,  for  six  miles,  we  struck  a  hill  of  most  difficult  ascent,  that 
required  us  to  double  our  teams.  Vet  even  this  hill,  as  well  as  another  still  more 
difficult,  which  we  descended,  might  have  been  entirely  avoided  by  an  advance 
of  two  hundred  yards  farther  up  the  stream,  where  nature  has  furnished  an  easy  as- 
cent round  the  sides  of  both.  This,  however,  was  not  discovered  until  all  the  wa- 
gons had  passed.  The  sbove  hill  is  the  first  that  we  have  met  in  our  road,  which 
obliged  us  to  double  our  teams. 

September  27th. — We  were  visited  last  night  by  a  sharp,  keen  frost,  and  when 
we  turned  out  in  the  morning  we  found  the  shivering  chill  utill  lingering  among  the 
valleys  of  the  surrounding  nountains.  This  morning  we  emerged  from  our  trou- 
blous passage  through  the  immediate  valley  of  the  river,  and  struck  a  beautifully  un- 
dulating valley  which  fringed  with  its  luxurious  productions  the  border  of  a  lovely 
plain.  In  the  mixed  vegetation  which  here  abounded  in  rich  profusion,  we  found 
red  hawes  and  cherries  in  abundance,  and  also  a  description  of  elder  berries,  which» 
unlike  ours,  that  are  of  an  insipid  sweet,  have  a  delicious  tartness,  somewhat  simi- 
lar in  flavor  to  winter  grapes  before  they  are  touched  with  the  frost.  In  the  course 
of  the  day  we  passed  a  Kiuse  village,  and  after  completing  twelve  miles  over  a 
good  road,  halted  for  the  night. 

September  28th. — Our  route  to-day  lay  through  a  beautiful  valley  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  the  overtopping  ridges  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  their  huge  bases  clothed 
with  immense  forests  of  majestic  pines,  and  their  stupendous  tops  gleaming  with 
everlasting  snow.  Above  their  dazzling  peaks  were  piled  in  grand  confusion, 
masses  of  fleecy  clouds,  through  the  irregular  breaks  of  which  the  clear  azure  of  the 
vault  above  showed  its  softening  contrast,  and  the  sharp  rays  of  the  sun  poured  their 
floods  of  radiance.  But  through  all  the  towering  terrors  of  these  mountains,  our 
sweet  little  valley  still  wound  on,  offering  its  velvet  verdure  and  its  gentle  surface 
to  facilitate  our  progress.  In  the  afternoon  we  emerged  upon  an  extensive  plain, 
which  I  have  mentioned  before  as  remarkable  for  a  solitary  tree  in  its  centre.  This 
noble  monarch  of  the  plain  is  a  magnificent  pine,  rearing  its  head  alone  amid 
the  level  blank  of  the  prairie,  that  bears  no  other  object  on  its  surface  for  miles  to- 
gether, higher  than  a  stunted  shrub.  As  we  approached  this  lonely  hermit,  I  could 
not  resist  an  impression  of  sadness,  and  the  idea  was  forced  upon  my  mind  that  it 
had  stood  there  a  sapling  amid  a  million  of  its  kind,  and  that  when  centuries  ago, 
the  mastodon  and  the  behemoth  abandoned  forever  their  sombre  depths,  the  forest 
followed  on,  leaving  this  solitary  scion  of  their  race  behind,  to  mark  the  spot  over 
which  they  had  waved  their  sheltering  foliage  since  the  beginning  of  the  world. 

This  splendid  outcast  has  lang  been  known  to  all  travellers  ia  this  region  as 
,'  The  Lone  Pine,"  and  it  could  not  possibly  have  received  a  more  expressive  and  ap- 
propriate designation.  I  was  about  six  miles  distant  from  it  when  it  first  attracted 
,  my  attention,  and  as  we  progressed  I  kept  regarding  it  with  admiration,  at  intervals  of 
•very  few  moments.  When  but  a  little  more  than  a  mile  off,  I  noticed  that  the 
leaders  of  our  line  were  circling  round  it,  and  making  demonstrations  of  an  encamp- 
ment. From  the  surface  of  the  plain  my  eyes  travelled  naturally  to  the  summit  of 
the  tree,  when  I  was  struck  with  its  unusual  motion.  I  thought  Lsaw  it  tremble.  I 
was  seized  with  a  sudden  apprehension,  but  unwilling  to  yield  to  it,  I  rubbed  my 
eyes  and  looked  again.  In  the  next  moment  my  horse  was  galloping  at  top  steed 
over  the  space  that  separated  me  from  it,  while  I,  regardless  of  the  distance,  was 
waving  my  arms  to  those  around  it,  and  shouting  to  them  to  desist.  I  was  too  late ; 
before  I  had  accomplished  half  the  distance,  the  majestic  monarch  toltered  for 
a  moment  from  its  perpendicular,  then  sweeping  downwards  through  the  air, 
thundered  in  ruin  upon  the  plain.  I  could  have  wept  for  vexation,  to  see  this  nuble 
land-mark,  which  had  braved  the  assaults  of  time  through  a  thousand  winters,  thus 
fall  an  inglorious  victim  to  the  regardless  axe  of  some  back-woods'  Vandal.  L  had 
been  cut  by  some  inconsiderate  emigrants  for  fuel ;  a  necessity  that  could  have 
been  more  easily  and  much  better  supplied,  by  a  profusion  of  small  dead  willows 
that  were  strewed  about  ;  for  the  pine  was  so  green  that  it  could  not  be  made  to 
burn  at  all.     We  this  day  accomplished  eighteen  miles. 

September  29th — We  left  the  plain  and-  its  prostrate  land-mark  this  morning 
and  in  the  middle  of  the  day  entered  anather  valley,  as  rich  m  its  fertility  as  the  one 


HISTORY   OP   OREGON, 


«7 


te; 
for 
air, 
ble 

Had 
ive 

|W8 

to 

ng 


«r  tlM  day  before,  and  like  it,  it  also  ran  between  two  immenie  parallel  ranges  of 
«now-topped  mountains,  the  sites  of  which,  a  little  way  below  the  vegetation  line, 
irere  covered  with  thick  forests  of  pine  to  where  their  bases  were  lost  in  the  bot- 
tom swells.  The  range  along  here,  was  very  superior,  and  the  surrounding  proofs 
of  general  fertility  gave  evidence  of  its  being  admirably  adapted  to  grazing  purposes. 
The  soil  is  most  excellent,  but  the  drought  at  the  same  time,  must  often  be  severe. 
Mo!<t  of  this  beautiful  valley  might  be  irrigated  from  the  tributaries  of  Powder  River, 
<itself  u,  tributary  of  the  Saptin,)  several  of  which  we  had  to  cross  in  following  the 
course  of  this  wide  valley  prairie.    Twelve  miles  to-day. 

September  30th. — Travelled  nine  miles  over  an  e.xcellent  road,  with  the  exception 
of  the  last  half  mile,  which  was  rocky  and  perplexed  ;  but  this  might  have  been  es- 
caped as  we  afterwards  found,  had  we  turned,  down  an  opening  to  our  right,  which 
W9  had  rejected  on  passing,  but  which  led  through  a  smooth  and  easy  passage  di- 
rectly to  th«  place  where  we  finally  encamped. 

October  1st. — We  this  day  came  to  the  "  Grand  Round,"  the  name  of  an  im- 
mense valley,  one  hundred  miles  in  circumference,  which  will  vie  in  fertility  with 
the  valley 'of  the  Missouri,  or  indeed,  with  any  spot  in  the  world.  Trees  of  all  kinds 
are  sprinkled  throughout  its  suiface  t  shrubs,  flowers,  brooks,  singing  birds,  meadow 
lark,  and  other  winged  game,  diversify  it,  with  many  other  of  the  attractions  of  more 
lavish  regions,  and  its  general  temperature  is  guaranteed  by  the  evidences  of  its  prodi- 
gal vegetation.  The  Grand  Round  is  nearly  circular  in  its  form  and  lies  embosom- 
«d  in  the  Blue  Mountains,  which  here,  like  their  predecessors  before  described,  are 
covered  from  b«ttom  to  top  with  lofty  pines  in  studded  forests.  The  bottom  of  this 
magic  circle  is  rich,  level  prairie  laud,  trelliced  with  crystal  springs  issuing  from  its 
surrounding  mountain  border,  which,  with  but  slight  assistance  from  the  art  of 
man,  could  easily  be  made  to  irrigate  the  whole  surface  of  the  valley. 

In  this  region  abounds  a  peculiar  vegetable  called  Kamas  root,  which  has  a  sweet 
and  pleasant  taste,  and  which  is  also  very  nutritous  food.  It  is  about  the  size  of  a 
partridge  egg,  and  is  cured  by  being  dried  upon  hot  stones.  We  purchased  large 
quantities  of  it  from  the  numerous  Indians  we  found  in  the  vicinity. 

In  this  region  also  may  be  found  one  of  the  most  wonderful  creations  of  nature, 
existent  in  the  world.  This  is  a  pond,  or  well,  of  boiling  salt  water,  hot  enough  for 
cooking  purposes,  and  bottomless  in  its  depths.  The  steam  arising  from  it  may  be 
seen  at  the  distance  of  several  miles,  and  resembles  the  vapor  arising  from  a  salt 
furnace.  It  occasioned  no  small  degree  of  conjecture  among  the  various  savans  and 
philosophers  of  our  party,  and  not  a  few  were  the  opinions  expressed  as  to  its  cause. 
McFarley,  however,  gave  the  most  satisfactory  account  of  any,  to  the  inquirers. 
He  represented  the  nteridianof  Grand  Round  to  be  exactly  opposite  to  Mount  Ve- 
suvius, en  the  other  side  of  the  globe  ;  that  that  tremendous  volcano  "  had  been 
burnin  long  afore  Christ,  and  it  stood  to  reason,  as  it  eat  deeper  and  deeper  into 
the  bowels  of  the  earth,  it  must  eventually  £ome  out  on  tiie  other  side."  He  believ- 
ed this  spring  to  be  an  indication  of  its  approach  to  the  western  surface,  and  that 
**  the  superincumbent  weight  of  water  upon  the  spot  was  all  that  kept  it  for  a  time 
from  burstin  to  a  vent."  He  then  added  his  deliberate  opinion,  that  ere  long,  the 
area  of  the  Grand  Round  would  be  the  scene  of  a  tremendous  eruption  and  the  cir« 
cle  of  mountains  which  hemnted  it  in,  would  be  the  rim  of  its  crater. 

This  notion  created  no  small  alarm  among  some  of  our  f  ks,  and  a  very  extensive 
opinion  prevailed  that  it  was  better  to  move  on  as  soon  as  possible,  and  give  Vesu- 
vius a  chance. 

I  should  have  mentioned  before,  that  on  entering  the  "  Grand  Round,"  we  had 
to  descend  an  abrupt  declivity  of  three  or  four  hundred  feet,  covered  with  loose 
rocks,  as  large,  and,  in  some  cases  larger  than  a  man's  head.  This  was  by  far  the 
worst  hill  we  had  yet  descended,  but  by  locking  both  hind  wheels,  and  with  teams 
80  well  trained  as  ours,  we  all  descended  in  a^ut  three  hours  without  hurt  or  in- 
jury to  a  single  soul,  and  no  damage  was  done  to  our  truck  beyond  a  slight  crush  of 
one  side  of  a  wagon  body. 

October  2d. — We  ascended  a  hill,  or  rather  a  mountain,  at  the  edge  of  the  "  Grand 
Round,"  and  then  descended  it  in  an  extensive  declivity  on  the  other  side,  ending 
at  a  fine  running  creek  for  which  I  could  find  no  name,  but  on  the  banks  of  which 
we  encamped.  Both  of  these  hills,  the  one  at  the  entrance  and  the  other  at  the 
outlet  of  the  Grand  Hound,  might  be  better  avoided  by  turning  to  the  Inft  upon  the 
mountain  side  and  passing  them  altogether.  We  passed  during  the  latter  part  of 
this  day,  through  large  bodies  of  heavy  pine  timber,  and  I  will  take  this  occasion 
to  remark,  that  the  timber  of  the  Blue  mountains  were  the  first  considerable  boilies 
we  had  seen  since  we  left  the  banks  of  the  Kanzas. 


i  ■' 


88 


HISTORY    or   OREGON. 


i 


it 
i 


I 


f 


October  2d. — We  were  obliged  lo-dny  to  ascend  and  descend  three  very  bad  hills, 
and  to  pasa  over  eight  miles  of  n  very  rough  and  difficult  road,  a  portion  of  it  run- 
ning through  a  track  heavily  timbered  with  pine.  We  cut  through  this  a  road  for 
the  wHgons,  and  it  now  offers  much  superior  facilities  for  those  who  follow. 

October  Ath, — This  day  our  route  stretched  through  tho  still  continuous  pine,  but 
they  wera  more  sparely  scattered  than  before,  and  our  progress  consequently  was 
more  easy.     The  weather  was  cold  and  bleak. 

October  5ih. — .\  slight  fall  of  snow  this  morning  brought  us  to  our  heaviest  cloth- 
ing, and  increased  the  size  of  our  early  camp-fires.  The  roads  were  excellent  be- 
fore us,  but  in  consequence  of  two  bad  hills,  and  the  disposition  to  linger  round  our 
fires,  we  did  not  make  more  than  eight  miles,  after  completing  which,  we  went  early 
to  camp. 

On  tho  6th,  we  descended  the  Blue  mountains,  by  an  easy  and  gradual  declina- 
lion  over  an  excellent  road,  and  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the  Umatilla  river  near 
a  Kiuse  village.  This  stream,  like  most  of  the  rivers  we  had  crossed  in  Oregon, 
was  nothing  more  than  a  go«>d  sized  creek.  Its  waters  were  beautifully  clear  and 
its  banks  were  studded  with  an  abundance  of  cotton  wood  timber.  We  were  no\v 
in  the  second  region  of  Oregon,  and  from  the  moment  wn  had  descended  from  the 
tnuuntains,  we  felt  the  difference  of  the  two  climates.  The  one  we  had  left  being 
sharp  and  severe,  and  this  being  mild  and  dry,  and  offering  in  its  abundant  grasses 
superior  facilities  for  stock  raising  and  grazing. 

After  descending  from  the  region  of  the  pine,  we  had  now  come  into  a  country  of 
broad  sandy  plains,  intermixed  with  a  yellowish  clay,  productive,  as  I  have  said  be- 
fore, of  abundant  herbage,  but  destitute  of  timber,  except  upon  the  margin  of  the 
streams.  From  this  point  to  the  Columbia  at  Wallawalla,  is  between  forty  and 
fifty  miles  through  continuous  plains,  varied  only  with  occasional  hills  of  sand.  This 
surface,  except  in  the  vallies  of  the  streams,  is  sandy  ard  sterile,  yet  in  its  least 
favored  sections  it  bears  a  description  of  scattering  brnch  grass,  upon  which  the 
cattle  become  very  fat.  ' 

We  found  the  Indians  of  this  village  very  friendly,  and  exceedingly  anxious  to 
trade  with  us.  They  proved  their  degree  of  civilization  and  advance  in  the  arts  of 
agriculture,  by  bringing  us  large  quantities  of  Irish  potatoes,  peas,  corn  and  kamas 
root,  for  which  we  gave  them  in  exchangP,'clothes,  powder,  ball  and  sundry  trifles. 
They  raise  a  large  number  of  horses,  by  the  luxuriant  pasturage  of  the  surrounding 
country,  and  were  continually  pressing  them  upon  us  for  sale,  offering  two  of  the 
finest  that  we  might  select,  for  one  of  our  cows.  Seduced  by  the  delights  and  com- 
forts of  this  place,  after  the  weary  wayfaring  we  had  just  passed  through  in  the  up- 
per region,  we  determined  to  remain  here  a  day  to  recruit,  and  we  accordingly  gave 
ourselves  up  to  a  regular  frolic,  during  which  the  peas,  corn  and  potatoes,  with  nice 
spare  ribs,  Ash  and  steaks  to  match,  vanished  from  the  earth  like  witchcraft. 

Let  me  remark,  for  fear  th^t  I  may  overlook  it,  that  while  travelHng  on  the 
Burnt  river,  and  while  passing  through  the  Blue  mountains,  we  had  much  trouble  in 
finding  our  stock  in  the  morning,  as  they  wandered  off  in  the  bushes  during  the  night, 
and  often  strayed  out  among  the  hills  after  the  bunch  grass.  We  found  the  road 
along  this  river,  and  through  these  mountains,  the  worst  of  the  whole  routs,  and 
indeed,  nearly  all  the  bad  road  we  saw  at  all.  Lieutencit  Fremont  who  came  be- 
hind us,  and  who  had  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  for  a  guide,  wc  rther  dojvn  the  Grand 
Round  to  the  right,  came  out  at  a  different  point,  an  e  his  way  through  the 

Blue  mountains  by  a  route,  which  ho  states,  to  be  mort  o.>fe  and  easy  by  far  than 
the  one  by  which  we  came.  Our  route,  at  any  rate,  can  be  so  improved  with  a  small 
amount  of  labor  as  to  be  quite  practicable,  and  even  as  it  was,  we  came  through 
it  with  our  wagons  in  perfect  safety,  without  even  unloading  them  at  a  single  point. 
Many,  if  not  most  of  the  bad  hills  we  had  passed,  could  have  been  avoided  oi  over- 
come, with  a  very  little  labor. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

Arrival  at  Doctor  Whitmari's  Mission — Perplexity — Confllicting  Counsels — Dim- 
gion  into  Squads  and  successive  departures — Progress  of  the  Advance  Guard  to 
Vancouver — Our  arrival  at  Fort  Wallawalla — Arrangements  with  its  Commander 
— Naval  Operations — Boat  Building — the  Grand  Rapids — the  Falls — the  Little 
Dalles — the  Grand  Dalles — the  Whirlpool — Death  in  the  Rapids — General  Cha- 
racteristics of  the  Middle  Region;  its  Indians,  their  Habits  and  Pursuits. 

On  the  Sth  October,  we  moved  on  and  encamped  in  the  afternoon  within  twenty 


HISTORY    or   ORGQON. 


89 


lOl- 

to 
ider 
Itlle 
'ha- 

inty 


miles  of  the  Methodist  mission  establishment,  kept  by  Dr.  Whitman,  on  the  bankt 
of  a  little  tributary  of  the  Wallawalla;  but  not  finding  the  pasturage  to  our  liking, 
we  moved  on  the  nrxt  day  a  few  miles  further  in  advance,  and  finding  a  prairie 
offering  us  all  the  advantages  we  sought,  the  section  to  which  I  was  attached,  de* 
termined  to  make  a  halt  for  a  few  days,  to  recruit  our  weary  and  way  worn  cattle. 
Most  of  the  party  had  advanced  before  us  and  were  alieady  at  the  mission,  but  we^ 
in  consequence  of  our  halt,  which  continued  through  a  period  of  five  days,  did  not 
reach  there  until  the  lAth.  The  mission  establishment  is  situated  on  the  north 
east  bank  of  a  small  stream  emptying  into  the  Wallawalla,  around  which  there  are 
two  or  three  hundred  acres  in  good  cultivation,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream, 
was  the  grist  mill,  where  the  Doctor  converted  his  grains  into  flour.  It  was  in  a 
very  dilapidated  condition  when  we  saw  it,  but  the  Doctor  informed  us  that  he  had 
made  arrangements  to  rebuild  it,  and  make  it  an  efficient  feature  of  his  little  colony. 

This  settlement  has  existed  here  under  the  care  of  the  doctor  and  his  excellent 
wife,  ever  since  1834,  and  by  his  persevering  industry  he  has  fairly  coaxed  civiliza- 
tion into  the  very  bosom  of  the  wilderness.  The  stream  on  which  the  mission 
house  is  situated  is  from  fifteen  to  twenty  yards  in  width  ;  its  clear  cool  waters  run 
over  a  gravelly  bed  at  the  rate  of  five  or  six  miles  to  the  hour,  and  its  banks,  on 
either  side,  are  ornamented  with  groves  of  flourishing  timber,  and  flowering 
shrubbery,  that  are  the  usual  accompaniments  of  fertility  of  soil  and  geniality  of 
climate.  The  valley  of  this  stream  is  about  thirty  miles  in  circumference,  and  is  a 
favorite  spot  with  the  Kiuse  for  raising  horses,  numbers  of  which  we  found  gallop- 
ing about  in  all  their  native  freedom  over  its  plains. 

Upon  our  arrival,  wefoond  the  pasturage  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  mission 
much  eaten  out  by  these  animals ;  but  a  few  miles  further  back,  towards  the  moun- 
tains, it  flourished  in  unsurpassed  profusion.  We  found  at  Doctor  Whitman's 
every  thing  to  supply  our  wants,  and  he  furnished  us  with  fine  wheat  at  one  dollar 

Eer  bushel,  and  potatoes  for  forty  cents.  His  supply  of  the  first  gave  out,  but  he 
ad  corn  and  potatoes  in  abundance. 
While  pausing  at  this  place,  we  were  agitated  and  perplexed  in  the  extreme  what 
course  to  take  in  relation  to  the  arrangements  we  should  make  for  the  successful 
conclusion  of  our  expedition.  Wr  were  assailed  wich  various  opinions  from  every 
one  we  met,  and  in  the  general  indecision  were  for  a  time  brought  to  a  dead  stand. 
Most  of  the  residents  of  the  mission  agreed  in  advising  us  to  leave  our  cattle  and 
wagons  at  this  point,  or  if  we  did  take  them  to  the  Dalles  or  narrows  (a  point  on 
the  Columbia,  120  miles  in  advance)  to  send  them  back  here  to  winter.  Others 
told  ns  that  we  could  not  reach  the  Dalles  with  our  teams,  as  jaded  as  they  were, 
as  we  would  find  no  range  along  the  course  of  the  Columbia.  All,  however,  seem- 
ed to  think  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  get  our  wagons,  or  our  cattle,  to 
the  Willamette  this  fall.  But  we  had  already  overcome  too  many  difficulties  to 
admit  the  word  impoisible  as  a  part  of  our  vocabulary.  We  could  not  remain  where 
we  were  for  a  number  of  reasons.  The  pasturage  in  the  immediate  vicinity  was 
too  scanty ;  the  width  of  range  would  not  allow  us  to  keep  our  stock  together,  and 
we  suffered  an  additional  danger  of  their  loss  from  the  dishonest  practices  of  the 
Indiana,  who,  if  they  did  not  steal  them  outright,  led  them  off,  for  the  purpose  of 
being  paid  to  bring  them  in.  Many  of  us  were  obliged  to  pay  a  shirt  (the  price 
uniformly  charged  by  the  Indians  for  every  service)  for  three  or  four  successive 
mornings,  to  get  back  the  same  animal,  and  this  was  a  kind  of  tribute  that  if  kept 
up,  would  make  fearful  inroads'upon  our  wardrobe.  The  majority  of  the  emigrants 
therefore  resolved  to  attempt  the  threatened  dangers  to  the  actual  evils  that  now 
beset  us.  Accordingly  they  set  out  in  squads,  on  successive  days,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  month,  all  had  reached  the  Dalles  in  safety.  What  surprised  them  most, 
after  the  representations  which  had  been  made,  was  the  fine  pasturage  they  mot 
with  all  along  the  way,  and  especially  at  the  Dallas,  where,  we  had  been  led  to 
believe,  the  cattle  could  not  subsist  at  all  during  the  winter.  As  the  parties  to 
which  I  now  allude,  preceded  me,  I  may  as  well  continue  this  anticipatory  account 
of  the  route  as  far  as  it  concerns  their  progress.  They  struck  off  in  a  south  west- 
erly direction,  leaving  the  sterility  of  the  river's  bank,  and  instead  of  perishing  for 
want  of  range,  their  cattle  even  improved  ail  along  the  way.  Some  of  them  left 
their  wagons  at  the  Dalles,  and  drove  their  cattle  through  the  Cascade  mountains, 
conveying  their  baggage  and  families  on  pack  horses  through  the  mountain  paths  ; 
and  some  went  down  the  river  by  the  boats.  But  the  greatest  portion  of  them  con- 
structed rafts  of  dead  pine  timber,  a  few  miles  below  the  Dalles,  large  etiough  to 
carry  six  or  eight  wagons,  and  upon  these  floated  safely  down  to  the  Cascades  on 
the  Columbia.    Their  cattle  were  driven  down  the  river's  bank  about  thirty  miles. 


90 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON* 


then  swum  icrosfl  and  were  driven  down  the  other  bank  to  VancouTer.  Here  the  party 
obtained  boats  from  Or.  McLaughlin,  the  Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
establishments  in  Oregon,  and  returned  to  the  Cascades  for  such  of  the  families, 
wagons  and  baggage  as  had  been  left  behind.  This  method  was  found  to  be,  of  all, 
the  most  successful.  By  the  first  of  December,  all  the  emigrants  had  arrived  at 
Vancouver,  but  the  greatest  portion  of  them  had  reached  there  as  early  as  the 
fifteenth  of  the  preceding  month. 

The  large  portion  of  the  emigration  t«  which  I  belonged,  arrived  at  Fort  Walla- 
walla,  on  the  ICth  0'  tober.  This  we  found  to  be  a  rough  parallelogram  constructed 
out  of  the  drift  wood  drawn  from  the  river  during  the  annual  rise  of  the  Columbia, 
in  June  and  July.  It  is  situated  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  Wallawalla,  just  where 
it  joins  the  Columbia.  We  found  a  Mr.  McKinley,  a  very  intelligent  Scotchman, 
in  charge  of  this  post,  and  at  Ms  hands  received  every  civility  and  attention. 
This  gentleman  proposed  to  us  a  conditional  arrangement,  subject  to  the  ratification 
or  refusal  of  Doctor  McLaughlin,  his  superior,  at  Vancouver,  in  regard  to  our  cattle. 
He  represented  the  impossibility  of  our  conveying  them  to  Vancouver,  and  to  save 
us  any  loss,  offered  to  take  them  for  himself,  and  give  us  an  order  on  the  Doctor 
for  an  equal  number  of  Spanish  cattle  of  the  same  age  and  gender,  in  the  possession 
of  the  latter  at  the  before-mentioned  station.  If  Dr.  McLaughlin  disapproved  of 
the  arrangement,  Mr.  McKinley  was  to  hold  our  cattle  subject  to  our  order,  and  to 
teceive  one  dollar  per  head  for  their  keeping.  This  was  a  pretty  acute  arrangement 
of  his,  as  we  afterwards  found,  but  as  it  eventuated  in  nothing  but  a  temporary 
deprivation  of  our  beasts,  we  did  not  have  occasion  to  regard  it  as  a  very  serious 
matter.  As  soon  as  this  arrangement  was  made,  we  went  to  work  briskly  in  build- 
ing boats  from  material  which  we  sawed  out  of  the  drift  wood  of  the  stream,  and 
having  all  our  preparations  completed  on  the  20th,  we  set  out  on  that  day  with 
Indian  pilots  for  our  guides. 

The  Columbia  at  Wallawalla,  is  a  beautiful  clear  and  calm  stream,  and  about  as 
wide  as  the  Ohio  at  Louisville,  Kentucky.  We  made  fifteen  miles  the  first  day, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  second,  passed  in  safety  the  Grand  Rapids,  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  points  on  the  river.  From  this  point  to  the  falls,  about  ten  miles 
above  the  Dalles,  we  passed  through  many  severe  rapids  and  narrow  passes.  At 
the  falls,  where  the  whole  Columbia  tumbles  down  a  perpendicular  ledge  of  rocks 
from  a  height  of  ten  feet,  we  were  obliged  to  draw  our  boat  from  the  stream  and 
make  a  portage  of  about  throe  quarters  of  a  mile,  and  then  launch  her  anew.  This 
was  dono  with  the  help  of  a  party  of  Indians,  thirty-five  in  number,  whom  we  founii- 
at  the  place  of  our  landing,  and  whom  wo  employed  to  shoulder  our  baggage  and 
carry  our  boat  the  necessary  distance  ;  giving  to  each  of  them  for  the  service,  five 
loads  of  powder  and  ball,  and  to  their  chief,  a  shirt  and  some  tobacco.  These  fel- 
lows appeared  to  understand  their  interests  very  well,  and  subserved  them  often  with 
as  much  acuteness  as  thorough  Yankees.  Employ  all,  or  none,  was  the  word,  and 
until  we  had  made  a  fair  business  arrangement  with  the  chief,  not  a  lop  ear  would 
lend  a  hand  to  any  of  our  work.  The  chief  spoke  English  very  well ;  was  a  tall, 
fine  looking  fellow,  dressed  in  the  broadcloth  costume  of  a  white  man,  and  wore 
upon  his  feet,  instead  of  moccasins,  a  pair  of  very  fine  shoes.  His  authority  ap- 
peared to  be  absolute,  and  the  moment  he  gave  the  word  of  command  every  thing 
was  performed  with  the  regularity  of  clock  work.  Our  boat,  which  was  a  superior 
one,  that  I  had  procured  by  especial  favor  from  Mr.  McKinley,  had  now  far  out- 
stripped all  the  rest,  and  indeed,  when  we  left  the  river  for  the  portage,  the  remain- 
der of  the  flotilla  had  been  out  of  sight  for  several  Lours.  After  our  launch,  we 
pursued  the  stream  for  four  or  five  miles,  when  we  struck  the  little  Dalies.  This 
is  a  narrow  channel,  rushing  in  whirlpools  and  dangerous  rapids  through  two  pre- 
cipitous walls  6f  rock.  Here  we  were  obliged  again  to  put  our  families  on  shore  to 
lighten  the  boat,  and  to  procure  some  Indians  to  take  her  through  the  gorge.  Be- 
low this  point,  and  between  it  and  the  Grand  Dalles,  we  encountered  some  severe 
and  threatening  rapiJs,  all  of  which,  however,  we  safely  overcame.  The  Grand 
Dalles  is  a  narrow  channel  cut  through  the  solid  rock,  over  which  it  used  to  flow 
and  fall,  by  the  mere  force  of  the  stream.  This  channel  is  about  two  miles  in 
length,  and  runs  between  perpendicular  walls  of  basaltic  rock,  which  fence  it  in  on 
either  side,  to  the  height  of  four  or  five  hundred  feet.  When  the  river  is  low,  it 
may  be  navigated  with  but  little  danger,  but  if  swollen,  it  is  death  to  attempt  it,  and  a 
portage  must  of  necessity  be  made.  We  employed  some  more  Indians  here,  but 
Isaac  Smith,  our  intrepid  waterman,  insisted  upon  acting  as  the  coxswain.  It  was 
fortunate  for  us  he  did,  for  when  we  were  about  in  the  middle  of  the  pass,  the  stroke 

'  lie  snapped  in  two,  pitching  the  Indian  who  worked  it,  nearly  over  the  bows, 


HISTORY   OF   OREGON. 


n 


we 
'his 


>ws. 


and  the  boat  suddenly  twisted  around  and  shot  down  the  stream  stern  forwards. 
Smith  alone  was  calm,  and  seizing  a  paddle  fiom  the  red  skin  nearest  to  him,  shout- 
ed in  a  voice  of  authority,  which  danger  sanctions  in  superiority,  "  Down  !  down ! 
every  soul  of  you  !"  Fixing  his  eye  upon  a  whirlpool  ahead,  he  waited  until  we 
reached  it,  and  then  adroitly  striking  his  paddle  in  the  water,  by  a  dexterous  move- 
ment whipped  her  head  into  the  iorce  of  a  circling  eddy,  and  checking  it  instantly 
on  the  other  side,  before  she  could  repeat  the  motion,  our  little  craft  shot  like  an 
arrow  from  the  perilous  spot,  head  on  again,  into  a  smoother  current.  Smith  drew 
a  heavy  sigh  of  relief  as  he  handed  the  paddle  back,  and  sat  down  in  his  place  with- 
out evmcing  any  other  sign  of  satisfaction  at  the  triumphant  result  of  his  exploit. 

The  Columbia  river  above  this  point  can  never  be  made  safe  for  boats  of  any 
size ;  the  navigation  being  difficult  and  uncertain,  even  at  low  water ;  and  when 
high,  as  I  said  before,  it  is  quite  impassable.  But  the  day  after  our  passage,  one 
of  Captain  Applegate's  skiffs  upset  with  three  men  and  three  boys.  Two  of  the 
boys  and  one  of  the  men  were  drowned.  The  former  were  about  ten  years  old- 
one  of  them  being  the  son  of  Captain  Jesse  Applegate,  and  the  other  of  Lindsay 
Appiegate.  The  man  drowned  was  an  old  man  named  McClelland,  who  steered 
the  skitf. 

During  our  passage  from  the  Wallamette  to  the  Dalles,  we  saw  no  timber  on  the 
Columbia  river,  or  near  it,  indeed  no  bolder  vegetation  appeared  than  a  few  occasional 
willows  near  its  brink.  The  Indians  are  numerous  all  along  its  line,  and  are  exceed- 
ingly thievish,  stealing  without  hesitation  everything  they  can  lay  their  hands  on. 
The  reason  of  their  being  so  numerous  in  this  quarter  is,  that  the  Falls  and  the 
Dalles  are  the  great  Usheries  of  the  Columbia  river,  where  immense  numbers  of 
salmon  are  annually  taken  by  these  primitive  fishermen. 

Before  leaving  this  region,  I  will  remark,  that  the  portion  we  saw  of  it  in  eur 
passage  down  the  river,  was  of  a  description  that  should  by  no  means  be  taken  as  an 
evidence  of  its  general  character.  Beyond  the  immediate  line  of  the  Columbia, 
which  is  a  tract  of  blank,  discouraging  sterility,  stretch  numbers  of  fertile  plains, 
which,  though  not  adapted  to  the  general  purposes  of  agriculture,  produce  a  rich| 
continual  and  luxuriant  herbage,  admirably  adapted  to  grazing  purposes,  and  indeed 
rendering  it  second  to  no  region  in  the  world  for  raising  stock.  Its  surface  is  al- 
most a  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  it  is  generally  a  rolling  prairie 
country,  with  the  exception  of  that  portion  about  a  hundred,  or  a  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  to  the  north,  which  is  barren  and  rugged,  and  much  broken  with  rivers  and 
mountain  chains.  It  is  in  this  section  that  all  the  horses  are  reared  for  the  su(^ly 
of  the  Indians  and  the  traders  of  the  interior.  '*  It  is  nut  uncommon,"  says  Captain 
Wyeth,  "  that  one  Indian  owns  hundreds  of  them.  I  think  this  section  for  produc- 
ing hides,  tallow,  and  beef,  superior  to  any  part  of  North  America;  for  with  equal 
facilities  for  raising  the  animals,  the  weather  in  the  winter  when  the  grass  is  best, 
and  consequently  the  best  time  to  fatten  the  animals,  is  cold  enough  to  salt  meat, 
which  is  not  the  case  in  Upper  California.  There  is  no  question  that  sheep  might 
be  raised  to  any  extent  in  a  climate  so  dry  and  so  sufficiently  warm,  and  where  so 
little  snow^or  rain  falls.  It  is  also  the  healthiest  country  I  have  ever  been  in, 
which,  I  suppose  arises  from  the  small  quantity  of  decaying  vegetable  matter,  and 
there  being  no  obstruction  from  timber  to  the  passing  winds." 

The  premium  portion  of  this  whole  region,  I  have  been  informed,  is  the  Nez 
Perces  county,  which  takes  its  name  from  one  of  the  tribes  inhabiting  it.  The 
region,  however,  in  the  vicinity  of  Mr.  Spaulding,  an  American  missionary,  who  has 
an  establishment  on  the  Saptin,  a  few  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Columbia, 
is  thought  to  be  the  finest  of  all.  He  has  a  fine  herd  of  cattle  and  a  very  numerous 
lot  of  sheep,  and  I  am  informed  upon  good  authority,  that  his  ewes  have  lambs  twice  a 
year.  The  whole  surrounding  country  is  covered  with  a  heavy  bunch  grass  which 
remains  green  during  the  whole  winter.  This  generally  dries  up  during  the  sum- 
mer heats  of  July,  but  it  is  then  as  good  as  hay,  and  the  slight  rains  in  the  fall 
make  it  shoot  up  at  once,  after  which  it  remains  green  till  the  succeeding  sum* 
mer.    I  saw  it  in  October  as  green  as  a  wheat  field.  *^ 

»  The  followini;  extract  from  the  letter  of  Nathaniel  Wyeth,  in  the  report  of  the  Committee 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  Oregon  Territory,  February  16th,  1838,  will  serve  to 
confirm  this  description.    Wyeth  was  the  enterprising  trader  who  established  Fort  Hall. 

"This  country,  (the  miildle  region,)  which  affords  little  prospect  for  the  tiller  of  the  soil, 
is  perhaps  one  of  the  best  for  gra/.ing  in  the  woild.  It  has  been  much  underrated  by  travellers 
who  have  only  passed  by  the  Columbia,  the  land  along  which  is  a  collection  of  sand  and 
rocks,  and  almost  without  vegetation  ;  but  a  few  miles  from  the  Columbia,  towards  the  hills 
and  mountains,  the  prairies  open  wide,  covered  with  a  low  grass  of  a  most  nutritious  kind, 
which  remains  good  throughout  the  year.  In  September  there  are  slight  rains,  at  which  time 
the  grass  starts ;  and  in  October  and  November,  there  is  a  good  coat  of  green  grass,  which  re_ 


92 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


While  at  Wnllawalla  I  saw  Ellii*,  the  chief  of  the  Nez  Percea.  He  spoke  the 
English  language  very  well,  and  I  found  him  to  bo  quite  intelligent  and  well  versed 
in  the  value  and  the  rights  of  property.  He  has  a  fine  farm  of  thirty  acres  in  good 
cultivation,  a  large  bai.d  of  cattle,  and  upwards  of  two  thousand  beautifdl  horses. 
Many  of  the  Kiuse^  have,  as  vVyeih  says,  hundreds  of  these  noble  animals.  They 
havp  a  groat  desire  to  acquire  stock,  of  which  they  have  already  a  considerable 
quantity,  and  yearly  go  to  the  Willamette  and  give  two  of  their  finest  horses  for 
one  cow.  In  a  few  years  from  this  time  these  Indians  will  have  fine  farms  and 
large  herds  of  cattle.  They  have  already  made  great  progress  in  civilization,  and 
evince  a  strong  desire  to  imitate  the  whites  in  everything  they  do.  This  is  shown 
in  a  very  remarkable  degree,  by  their  fondness  (n  our  dress,  the  meanest  portion  of 
which,  strange  to  say,  they  have  the  strongest  passion  (or.  As  I  said  before,  thojr 
uniformly  charge  a  shirt  for  every  service  they  perform,  and  to  such  an  extent  do 
they  carry  their  admiration  of  this  graceful  article,  that  I  have  seen  some  of  them 
with  nothing  else  on  under  heaven  besides,  but  a  pair  of  old  boots  and  a  worn  out 
hat,  parading  up  and  down  for  hours  with  the  most  conceited  strut,  as  if  they  were 
conscious  of  attracting  universal  admiration. 

Grain  grows  very  well  in  the  vicinity  of  Mr.  Spaulding's,  as  also  do  potatoes  and 
garden  vegetables  generally.  It  also  produces  fine  corn,  but  for  this  the  soil  requires 
irrigation.  Mr.  Spaulding  last  year  raised  four  hundred  and  ten  bushels  upon  four 
acres.  The  ground  was  measured  in  the  presence  of  five  gentlemen,  and  its 
quantity  accurately  ascertained.    It  was  sown  in  drills. 


\, 


I      I 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Arrival  at  the  Dalles  Mission — Continuation  of  journey  down  the  river — Scenery 
of  the  Columbia — The  Cascades — Indian  tradition — Arrival  of  Vancouver — The 
Chief  Factor — Mr.  Douglass — Conduct  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to 
Emigrants — Jumping  the  rapids — Penalty  of  braving  the  Cascades — Stock 
raising — Condition  of  the  settlement  at  Vancouver — Prices  of  goods  in  the 
territory. 


V. 


'•!;* 


After  we  had  passed  the  narrow  and  dangerous  channel  of  the  Dalles,  we  came 
out  into  a  smooth  and  calm  surface  of  river,  over  which  our  little  craft  glided  with 
a  quiet  rapidity.  Wo  now  for  the  first  time  caught  a  glance  at  a  seal,  occasionally 
popping  his  head  above  the  level  of  the  stream  and  as  quickly  witdrawing  it  on  our 
approach,  and  as  we  progressed  we  found  their  numbers  increased.  This  animal 
abounds  in  the  Columbia  from  this  point  to  the  sea,  and  it  is  also  found  in  conside- 
rable quantities  in  the  Willamette,  below  the  falls  of  that  river. 

A  mile's  sail  from  the  fret  of  the  Dalies  brought  us  to  the  Methodist  mission 
establishment  under  the  charge  of  Messrs.  Perkins  and  Brewer,  which  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Dalles  Mission. 

The  mission  houses  stand  on  a  most  commanding  and  eligible  site  on  the  south- 
west side  of  the  river.  When  you  ascend  the  bank,  the  sward  runs  before  you  in  a 
gentle  and  regular  inclination  for  about  a  mile,  when  it  joins  a  line  of  hills  of  mode- 
rate altitude,  covered  with  a  profusion  of  pine  timber,  intermixed  with  some  scat- 
tering white  oak.  Just  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  on  the  edge  of  this  timber,  stand 
the  mission  houtus,  and  between  them  and  the  river,  are  sprinkled  numerous  Indian 
huts  or  lodges,  whose  rude  inmates  are  the  object  of  the  missionaries  philanthropic 
care.  Immediately  to  the  south-west,  is  a  fine  mill  stream,  and  directly  below  it  a 
rich  bottom  prairie,  skirted  with  yellow  pines  and  oak.  This  plain  is  about  large 
enough  for  three  fine  farms,  and  can  easily  be  irrigated  from  the  stream  I  have 
alluded  to.  The  grazing  in  the  vicinity  of  this  spot  extends  in  a  circumference  of 
twenty  or  thirty  miles,  and  offers  facilities  at  a  very  trifliag  expense,  for  raising 
great  numbers  of  sheep,  horses,  and  other  cattle,  and  the  mast  from  the  white  oak 
will  support  numerous  droves  of  hogs. 

mains  so  during  summer  ;  and  about  June  it  is  ripe  in  the  lower  plains,  and  drying  without 
beins  wet,  is  made  like  hay.  In  this  state  it  remains  until  the  autumn  rpins  again  revive  it. 
The  herdsman  can  at  all  times  keep  his  animals  in  good  grass,  by  approaching  the  mountains 
in  summer,  on  the  declivities  of  which  almost  any  climatt!  may  be  had." 


HIITORY  or  OREGON' 


:e  of 

iBing 

oak 


hont 

re  it. 
tains 


The  Dalles  miision  is  at  the  head  of  the  practical  navigation  of  the  Columbia,  and 
I  regard  it  aa  one  of  the  most  important  stations  in  the  whole  territory.  It  is  a  point 
which  all  who  go  up  and  down  the  river  must  pass,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  in  s 
few  years  steamboats  will  be  running  between  it  and  the  Cascades.  In  addition  to 
the  facilities  which  I  have  already  mentioned,  it  has  a  mild  and  dry  climate,  about 
the  same  as  that  of  Nashville,  Tennessee.  It  is  slightly  colder  than  Wallawalla,  in 
consequence  of  its  nearer  vicinity  to  one  of  the  stupendous  Titans  of  the  Cascade  or 
President's  range,  called  Mount  Washington,  about  fifty  or  sixty  miles  to  the  south- 
west. I  was  at  the  Dalles  on  the  23d  of  November  last,  and  there  had  up  to  that 
time  been  no  visitation  of  cold  weather,  nor  no  fall  of  rain  heavy  enoagh  to  wet  the 

Sound  two  inches  deep.  To  this  place,  moreover,  from  its  peculiar  situation,  and 
e  characteristics  of  large  portions  of  the  adjacent  country,  both  north  and  south, 
will  all  the  cattle  raised  in  the  second  region  have  to  be  driven  to  be  slaughtered, 
and  here  the  inhabitants  from  abovo  will  purchase  their  general  supplies. 

The  beauty  of  this  situation  and  the  auvantages  it  possessed  over  any  to  which  I 
had  yet  arrived,  determined  me  to  leave  my  folks  und  effects  there  for  a  time,  and 
make  a  voyage  to  Vancouver  myself,  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  arrangement 
I  had  made  with  Mr.  .^IcKinley,  at  Wallawalla,  in  relation  to  our  cattle.  I  accord* 
ingly  set  out  on  the  6th  of  November,  and  continued  my  route  down  the  river. 

The  Columbia,  between  the  Dalles  and  Cascades,  is  a  calm  and  clear  stream, 
without  a  rapid  in  it,  and  as  safe  in  its  navigation  as  the  Ohio.  The  current  is  slow, 
but  there  is  at  all  times  an  ample  supply  of  water.  The  distance  between  the  two 
points  is  thirty-six  miles.  Immediately  after  leaving  the  missionary  landing,  the 
river  which  was  about  a  mile  wide,  passed  for  two  miles  through  high  walls  of  per- 
pendicular basaltic  ruck  standing  in  square  columns,  sometimes  of  a  feet,  and  some- 
times ef  two  feet  in  thickness.  These  rocks,  which  are  the  same  in  character  as  all 
that  I  had  seea  on  the  borders  of  this  stream,  were  perpendicular  in  their  position, 
except  at  two  points  where  we  found  them  gently  inclining  inward  tovrards  the 
river.  After  we  had  proceeded  some  three  or  four  miles  from  our  starting  point, 
the  hills  gradually  ran  towards  the  river's  sides,  Those  on  the  southern  bank  are 
covered  with  pine  and  white  oak,  and  those  on  the  northern  side  bear  scarcely  any- 
thing but  scrubby  white  oak.  As  we  neared  the  Cascades,  the  mountains  inoreased 
greatly  in  height,  and  the  pines  upon  their  sides  grew  larger  in  their  rize  than  those 
on  the  introductory  hills,  and  became  more  thickly  studded,  until  the  mountains  were 
covered  with  them.  We  frequently  passed  tall  walls  of  rock  many  hundred  feet  in 
height,  that  raised  their  castellated  sides  on  the  very  brink  of  the  river.  In  fact,  the 
river  is  so  shut  in  with  these  natural  bastions,  both  above  and  below  the  Cascades, 
for  twenty  miles  on  either  side,  that  within  this  whole  space,  there  is  no  bottom 
lands  at  all  with  the  exception  of  a  single  spot  of  fertility  three  miles  below,  3r,d 
occasional  scollops,  stolen  from  the  mountains,  bearing  in  their  semicircles  nc  '^h;^ 
but  the  liut  of  some  Indian  fishermen.  On  our  way  down,  we  passed  several  rain 
carrying  the  adventurous  members  of  our  expedition,  their  families  and  their  baggage, 
and  arrived  there  ourselves  on  the  seventh. 

The  Cascades  are  made  by  the  Columbia  forcing  its  way  through  the  Cascade 
or  President's  range  of  mountains  over  an  immense  field  of  rocks,  which  at  this 
point  strew  its  bottom  and  peep  above  its  surface.  This  point  of  the  river  bears 
no  resemblance  to  the  Dalles  at  all.  Instead  of  being  confined  between  perpen- 
dicular walls  of  basaltic  rock,  it  is  lined  on  either  side  by  the  slopes  of  towering 
mountains  studded  with  evergreen  pine,  and  birch  and  oak.  Immediately  at 
the  Cascades,  the  mountains  rua  close  in  to  the  shore,  but,  as  if  satisfied  with  the 
experiment  at  this  point,  they  start  away  from  both  sides  to  the  east,  and  leave  seve- 
ral spaces  of  high,  yet  tolerably  level  land.  As  we  approached  the  Cascades,  the 
roar  of  the  waters  fretting  in  their  uneasy  course,  gave  token  of  its  vicinity,  and  the 
increasing  current  of  the  river  lent  to  our  little  vessel  an  additional  speed.  The 
growing  (mm,  and  gathering  obstructions  in  the  shape  of  rocks  in  the  bed  of  the 
stream,  at  length  warned  us  to  the  shore,  and  we  were  obliged  to  give  oar  boat 
again  to  the  Indians  on  the  bank,  and  make  a  portage  to  escape  the  danger.  The 
water  is  here  very  deep,  and  the  bed  of  the  river  is  filled  with  huge  deta«lhed  rocks, 
with  intervening  patches  of  white  sand.  From  the  compression  of  its  volume  in  a 
trough  of  three  or  four  hundred  yards,  and  its  fall  of  one  hui:died  and  fifty  feet  in 
the  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half,  the  current  here  sets  downward  with  immense 
force,  and  renders  the  passage  dangerous  in  the  extreme. 

These  rocks  are  generally  conical  in  form,  and  stand  with  their  small  ends  op, 
like  gigantic  hen's  eggs,  deposited  in  the  bed  of  the  stream.  They  are  all  worn 
smooth  by  the  continual  friction  of  the  current,  and  many  of  them  are  from  ten  to 


\ 


94 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


I!  ■;  i 


fifteen  feet  high  above  the  water  leTel.  It  it  a  moat  beautiful  eight,  aa  the  water 
luabes  down  with  reaiatleia  impetuoiity,  ragigg  and  foaming  at  the  reaiatanee  made 
by  theae  [atubborn  opponenta  m  the  very  centre  of  ita  volume,  to  atand  and  gaie 
upon,  from  the  commanding  poaition  on  the  northern  bank.  In  all  the  whirl  and 
turmoil  of  thia  watery  Babel,  I  noticed  a  aeal  or  two  occaaionally  popping  up  their 
head*  on  the  lee  aide  of  the  rocka,  aa  if  to  make  an  occaaional  inquiry  aa  to  the 
cour8e  of  matter*  out  of  doora.  The  Indiana  have  a  remarkable  tradition  in  rela- 
tion to  these  Cascadei.  They  aay  that  about  aeventy  or  eighty  veara  age,  they  did 
not  exist  at  all,  but  that  the  river  ran  amoothly  on  under  the  side  of  a  projecting 
mountain,  from  which  an  avalanche  alid  into  its  bed,  and  drove  it  into  ita  preaent 
fretful  confine.  This  aeems  almost  incredible,  but  appearancea  go  atrangely  to  con- 
firm it.  The  river  above  the  Cascades  haa  all  the  appearance  of  being  dammed  up 
from  below,  and  for  many  miles  above,  you  will  see  atumpa  of  treea  in  thirk  aquads 
extending,  at  aome  points,  more  than  a  hundred  yards  from  the  shore  along  the 
bottom.  Those  have  all  the  appearance  of  timber  that  haa  been  killed  by  the  over- 
flowing of  water,  aa  you  will  sometimes  sea  it  in  a  mill  dam.  The  tops  of  aome 
of  them  approach  to  within  a  foot  or  two  of  the  aurface,  while  in  many  placeai 
others  rise  above  it  for  ten  or  fifteen.  What  is  strongly  conf:.^mative  of  their  report, 
is  the  fact  that  you  can  find  no  such  appearances  at  any  other  point  on  the  river. 
It  is  certainly  beyond  dispute,  that  these  trees  could  ever  have  grown  there,  and  in 
absence  of  any  other  mode  of  accounting  fur  the  phenomenon,  we  must  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  they  have  been  drowned  by  aome  great  overflow,  caused  by  « 
coBvulsion,  or  a  lapse  of  nature.  On  the  south  bank,  commencing  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cascades,  and  extending  half  a  mile  up  the  river,  and  spreading  between  it  and 
the  mountains,  ia  a  space  of  level  land,  about  three  hundred  yarda  wide,  which  if 
covered  with  pine,  and  ia  elevated,  at  low  water  mark,  some  fifty  or  aixty  feet.  Among 
these  pines,  scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  ground,  you  will  see  numbers  of  these 
loose  rocks,  a  portion  of  which  have  tumbled  into  the  flood.  It  is  also  worthy  of 
remark,  that  the  pines  growing  here  are  all  young  treea,  none  being  more  than  a 
foot  in  diameter. 

The  portage  here  ia  about  half  a  mile,  and  ia  made  on  the  north  bank  going  up* 
and  on  the  aouth  bank  coming  down.  The  boata,  however,  are  not  taken  out  of  the 
water  and  carried  around  aa  they  are  at  the  Falla,  but  ere  drawn  alons  by  ropes  ex- 
tending to  the  bank,  and  in  some  places  are  lifted  over  the  rocks.  The  Caacades 
form  another  great  salmon  fishery.  The  Indians  have  speculated  and  practically 
experimented  upon  the  dootrines  of  internal  improvement  in  application  to  this  ob- 
ject, by  making  artiflcial  channels  by  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  the  loose  rock, 
ao  aa  to  form  a  number  of  natural  canals,  into  which  the  great  body  of  the  fish  find 
tkeir  way  in  passing  up  the  river,  when  they  are  taken  with  great  ease. 

The  Cascades  are  a  very  important  point  of  the  Oregon  territory  in  a  busineas 
point  of  view.  All  the  commerce  and  travel  up  the  river,  are  compelled  to  pasa 
them,  and  to  make  this  portage.  There  is  fine  grazing,  fine  timber,  aome  good 
soil,  and  an  incalculable  amount  of  water  power  m  the  immediate  vicinity.  The 
piece  of  level  land  I  have  already  alluded  to  as  lying  on  the  south  bank,  would  form 
a  fine  situation  for  a  small  town  er  a  farmer's  residence.  The  ripids  below  the 
Cascades  extend  down  about  three  miles  or  more,  and  ofTer  almoat  insurmounta- 
ble impediments  to  navigation  at  low  water,  especially  to  boats  ascending  the  stream. 
It  requires,  perhaps,  a  full  day's  time  to  pass  from  the  foot  of  the  rapids  to  the  Caa- 
cades with  a  loaded  boat.  Portions  of  the  loading  have  to  be  taken  eut  and  car- 
ried a  few  yards,  at  some  two  or  three  different  points.  In  descending  the  river, 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  always  pass  through  them  without  unloading,  and  their 
mode  of  passage  is  very  descriptively  called  "  jumping  the  rapids."  From  the  Cas- 
cades to  Cape  Horn,  (a  perpendicular  wall  of  rocK  about  five  hundred  feet  high, 
and  ^running  ^long  the  bank  of  the  river  for  the  space  of  half  a  mile  on  the  north 
tide,)  is  twenty  miles  ;  and  down  to  this  point  the  mountains  continue  to  be  tall, 
and  to  run  close  to  the  margin  of  the  stream.  On  the  sides  of  these,  both  above 
and  below,  there  are  many  beautiful  waterfalls.  There  is  one  in  particular,  just 
above  Cape  Horn,  formed  by  a  considerable  mountain  stream,  whose  whole  volume 
falls  in  one  perpendicular  pitch  of  five  hundred  feet  amid  the  caverns  of  the  rocks. 
^At  Cape  Horn,  which  is  midway  between  the  Cascades  and  Vancouver,  (a  distance 
of  forty  miles,)  you  can  perceive  the  mountains  dwindle  rapidly  into  hills,  and  what 
remains  of  them  when  you  arrive  within  ten  miles  of  the  fort,  turn  off  abruptly  from 
the  river  on  both  sides,  almost  at  right  angles,  and  leave,  spreading  from  Us  banks 
towards  the  sea,  level,  yet  high  districts  of  fertile  country,  many  miles  wide,  cover- 
ed with  an  immense  body  of  pine,  fir  and  white  cedar  timber.    On  the  north  bank. 


ni»TORY    or   OREGON. 


w 


thii  strip  of  country  rum  lome  diitnnce  below  Vancouver,  anil  on  the  louth  it 
•tretches  to  the  Willamette.  The  Willnmotto  is  a  fine  rivor  entering  the  Colum- 
bia five  milei  below  Fori  Vancouver,  and  running  nearly  in  a  louth  easterly  (lirec> 
tion  from  the  parent  stream.  This  course,  aided  by  a  slight  southern  inclination  of 
the  great  river,  immediately  after  receiving  it,  forms  a  triangle,  the  point  of  which  is 
formed  at  the  junction,  and  the  base  of  which  extends  about  five  or  sii  miles  up 
the  bsnks  of  both  rivers  until  it  reaches  an  equilateral  breadth.  This  is  low  bottom 
prairie  covered  with  scattering  u«h  and  cotton  wood.  It  is  overflown  every  sum* 
mer,  and  forms  an  exception  to  the  high  but  level  land,  which  I  mentioned  as  stretch- 
ing  along  the  nhore  for  twenty  i/r  thirty  miles  above.  On  the  north  side  of  the  Go- 
lurnbia,  in  this  lower  region,  the  soil  is  rich,  but  gravelly ;  on  the  south  side  it 
it  richer  still,  ^d  is  spread  upon  a  substratum  of  yellow  clay. 

On  the  tenth  of  November,  I  arrived  at  Vancouver  and  could  scarcely  believe  mj 
•^•s,  when  on  approaching  it,  I  beheld  moored  securely  in  the  river,  two  square 
rigged  vessels  and  a  ste^boat.  My  very  heart  jumped  as  I  set  eyes  on  these 
familiar  objects,  and  for  the  first  time  in  four  months,  I  felt  as  if  I  had  found  a  sub- 
■tantial  evidence  of  civilization.  The  impressions  of  the  refinements  of  the  mission^ 
and  the  peculiarly  domestic  comforts  which  the  excellent  ladies  attached  to  the  es- 
tablishments spread  around  them,  were  as  nothing  compared  with  the  yards  and 
masts  of  these  coursers  of  the  ocean. 

The  river  at  Fort  Vancouver  is  from  1600  to  1700  yards  wide.  The  Port,  which 
is  the  principal  establishment  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  Oregon,  is  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Columbia,  90  miles'  distance  in  a  direct  line  from  the  sea.  It 
stands  a  considerable  distance  back  from  the  shore,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  large 
number  of  wooden  buildings,  (among  which  is  a  schooNhouse,)  used  for  the  various 
purposes  of  residences  and  workshops  for  those  attached  to  the  establishment.  This 
colony  is  enclosed  by  a  barrier  of  pickets  twenty  feet  in  height.  On  the  bank  of  the 
river,  six  hundred  yards  farther  down,  is  a  village  somewhat  larger  in  extent,  (con- 
taining an  hospital,)  which  is  allotted  to  the  inferior  servants  of  the  station.  Two 
miles  further  down  the  river,  are  the  dairy  and  piggery,  containing  numerous  herds 
of  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  &c.,  and  about  three  miles  above  the  fort,  are  grist  and  savr 
mills,  and  sheds  for  curing  salmon.  Immediately  behind  it,  is  a  garden  of  five  acres, 
and  an  orchard  filled  wiln  peach,  apple,  fig,  orange,  lemon,  and  other  fruit  trees, 
and  containing  also  grapes,  strawberries  and  ornamental  plants  and  flowers.  Be- 
hind this,  the  cultivated  farm,  with  its  numerous  barns  and  other  necessary  buildings, 
spreads  off  towards  the  south.  The  land  appropriated  here  for  the  purposes  of  ar- 
ming, is  from  3000  to  4000  acres,  and  is  fenced  into  beautiful  fields,  a  great  por- 
tion of  which  has  already  been  appropriated  to  cultivation,  and  is  found  to  produce 
the  grains  and  vegetables  of  the  States,  in  remarkable  profusion.  To  cultivate  these 
immense  farms,  and  attend  to  the  duties  arising  from  the  care  of  flocks,  the  drud- 
gery of  the  workshops,  the  heavy  labor  attendant  upon  hewing  timber  for  the 
saw  mills,  the  British  residents  do  not  hesitate  to  press  into  their  service  the 
neighboring  Iroquois,  and  even  to  avail  themselves  of^  human  transplants  from  the 
Sandwich  Islands ;  many  of  the  natives  of  which  are  already  here  working  in 
gangs  for  the  benefit,  and  at  the  direction  of  this  shrewd  and  able  company. 

On  my  arrival  I  was  received  with  great  kindness  by  Doctor  McLaughlin  and 
Mr.  James  Douglass,  the  second  in  command.    They  both  tenderded  me  the  hos- 

fiitalities  of  the  fort,  which  ofler,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  I  accepted  willing- 
y  and  with  pleasure.  Dr.  McLaughlin  is  the  Governor  or  Chief  Factor  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  a  situation  most  diflUcult  and  arduous  in  its  duties,  and 
requiring  most  consummate  ability  in  the  person  aspiring  to  fill  it.  The  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  have  been  most  fortunate  in  their  selection  of  Doctor  McLaughlin 
for  this  important  trust.  Possessed  of  a  commanding  person,  a  refined,  benevolent 
and  amiable  manner ;  owning  extensive  acquirements  drawn  from  study,  travel  and 
intercourse  with  mankind ;  a  profound  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  withal  » 
firmness  that  ensures  obedience  and  respect,  he  is  peculiarly  qualified  to  protect 
the  important  interests  of  tKis  powerful  company,  and  to  control  its  wayward  ser- 
vants, while  thus  far  removed  from  the  reach  of  other  civil  authority.  Doctor 
McLaughlin  is  upwards  of  six  feet  high,  and  over  sixty  years  of  age.  In  person  he 
is  robust,  erect,  and  a  little  inclined  to  corpulency,  one  of  the  natural  results  of  con- 
tentment and  repose.  The  clear  flush  of  rosy  health  glows  upon  his  cheeks,  his 
eye  still  sparkles  with  youthful  vivacity  while  ho  is  in  conversation  with  yon,  and 
his  fine  head  of  snow  white  hair,  adds  not  a  little  to  the  impressivsness  of  his  ap- 
pearance. His  hospitality  is  unbounded,  and,  I  will  sum  up  all^his  qualities,  by  say- 
ing that  he  is  beloved  by  all  who  know  him.  ^ 


96 


HISTORY   or  ORRQON. 


li  ? 


Mr.  DougUii  ii  alto  upwards  o(  sii  feat,  and  about  forty  five  yeara  of  age  ;  ha 
ia  likewiao  incliiiud  to  bo  corpulent,  and  hia  hair  it  also  gently  receiving  ii«  aifl- 
ing  from  the  salt  of  Time.  He  ia  like  hia  auparior,  n  man  of  accompliahcd  man* 
nora  Hnd  great  buaineaa  habile.  He  came  to  America  in  hia  boyhood,  filtered 
the  aervice  of  the  H.  B.  Company,  immediately  on  hia  arrival,  and  baa  renmined 
in  it  ever  aince. 

The  mmlut  operamli  of  thia  wonderful  corporation  it  remarkable  for  the  perfect 
accuracy  of  ita  lyttem.  A  code  of  catabiiahad  rules,  embracing  within  it*  tcopa, 
the  chief  Factor  and  the  meaneat  aervant,  ia  the  inflexible  rule  which  guverna 
all.  Every  man  hat  hia  allotted  department  to  fill,  and  hia  regular  tatka  to  do, 
and  he  ia  held  reepontible  for  the  faithful  performance  of  that  and  nothing  more. 
A  ayatem  of  far  aighted  policy  ia  brought  to  bear  upon  the  manngemont  of  every 
department,  whether  it  be  the  trapping  of  a  territory,  the  trantpitinting  of  nntivea, 
the  reinforcement  and  aupply  of  any  of  their  numeroua  fortt,  the  occupation  of  • 
point,  or  the  aisumption  of  a  privilege.*  A  regular  price  it  set  upon  every  thing, 
and  it  ia  labor  thrown  Awa;jr  to  attempt  to  underbid  it.  Their  gooda  are  all  of  a 
moat  auperior  kind,  and  it  ia  no  leaa  a  rule  to  aell  them  at  reaaonable  rate*,  than 
it  is  to  have  them  good,  Vancouver  is  the  grand  depot  of  all  the  other  furta  of 
Oregon,  and  it  ia  likewiae  the  grand  magasine  of  their  auppliea.  The  vcaaels  that 
bring  the  comforts  of  other  dimes  in  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  here  unload  their 
freiuht,  and  the  fertile  valley  of  the  river  yields  up  its  abundant  storea  at  the 
aligntest  aummona  of  their  wants. 

Their  mode  of  transportation,  and  the  carriage  of  their   cooda  from  place  to 

Itiace,  is  peculiar,  and  worthy  of  mention.  They  pack  all  their  (joods  in  uniform 
ots,  of  one  hundred  pounds  each,  and  their  boats  being  all  of  ono  size  and  form,  ara 
consequently  all  loaded  alike.  When  they  make  portages,  in  aacending  or  descend- 
ing the  stream,  an  eatablished  rule,  which  on  no  account  must  be  departed  from, 
directa  the  number  of  packages  to  be  taken  out  to  lighten  the  craft,  and  this  direc- 
tion varies  according  to  the  navigation  of  the  place.  Thia  regulation  ensures  the 
aafety  of  every  expedition,  and  prevcnta  many  losses  and  dangers  that  would 
otherwise  arise  out  of  the  indiscretion  and  daring  of  the  boatmen.  A  f-^  yeara 
ago,  a  party  of  eight  of  the  company's  servants  were  descending  the  river  in  a  boat, 
and  when  they  came  in  contact  with  the  Cascades,  and  were  about  landing  to  make 
tho  portage,  according  to  custom,  one  of  the  party  proposed,  as  they  were  anxioua 
to  arrive  at  home,  that  they  ahould  run  through  them.  T^e  proposal,  though 
Btanling  at  firat,  wna  graduaflv  asseiiled  to  by  ulTof  the  party  but  one.  This  was 
an  old  pilot,  who  had  been  in  the  Company's  aervice  for  a  number  of  yeara,  and  who 
waa  well  acquainted  with  all  the  dangera  of  the  passage.  He  held  out  stubbornly 
against  their  united  wishes,  until  accuaed  of  cowardice,  when  he  relinquished  hia 
opposition,  and  partly  to  vindicate  himself  from  the  charge,  and  partly  out  of  spite 
to  their  reckless  folly,  determined  to  give  them  a  chance  of  proving  his  correctness 
by  actual  experiment.  The  boat  passed  aafely  down  for  some  two  or  three  hundred 
yards,  when  multiplyine  dangers  whirled  and  foamed  on  every  side,  and  the  increasing 
ones  that  roared  and  moke  ahead,  struck  them  suddenly  witn  a  panic,  and  for  a 
moment  they  ceased  to  pull  their  oara.  The  pause  was  fatal.  The  edge  of  a 
whirlpool  caught  the  tail  of  the  boat,  awung  her  broadside  to  the  stream  with  sudden 
velocity,  and  rushing  it  in  this  helpless  condition  among  the  moat  fearful  rapida, 
it  waa  suddenly  overwhelmed  by  the  lashing  waves,  and  all  on  board  periahcd,  save 
the  old  man  who  had  oppoaed  the  experiment,  and  one  other  hand.  The  pilot  seized 
on  an  oar,  and  was  picked  up  with  it  firmly  enclosed  in  his  senseless  grasp,  at  a 
apot  four  miles  below  the  scene  of  the  disaster.  The  other  man,  by  an  equally  stranse 
caprice  of  the  current,  waa  cast  insensible  upon  the  bank  immediately  below  the 
Cascadca. 

Whatever  may  be  the  cauae  of  complaint  existing  against  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  in  their  treatment  of  former  emigrants  from  the  United  .States,  the  kind- 
neea  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  to  this  emigration  has  been  very  great.  He  furnished  them 
with  goods  and  proviaiona  on  credit,  and  such  as  were  sick  were  aent  to  the 
Hospital  free  of  expenae,  where  they  had  the  strict  and  careAil  attendance  of  Dr. 
Barclay,  a  akilful  physician,  and  an  excellent  and  humane  man.  The  Chief  Factor 
likewise  lent  the  emigrants  the  Company's  boats,  to  bring  down  such  of  the  familiea 
and  baggage  as  had  been  left  at  the  Cascade*  by  the  advanced  guard  of  the  expedi- 
tion, which  had  preceded  me ;  and  he  also  furnished  them  with  the  same  facilitiea 

*  Along  deicription  of  the  diflerent  trading  posts  belonginff  to  the  H.  B.  Co.,  has  been  left 
out,  inconsequence  of  the  previous  supply  of  that  information  id  the  demonstration  of  title  and 
in  the  Oeographical  sketch. 


HISTORY  or  ORCr.ON. 


Vf 


I  Bar 

kind- 
jthem 
the 
Dr. 
actor 
lilies 

S'  edi- 
_  itiM 

hnleit 
[leand 


fbr  croiiinff  thn  rivnr  with  their  cattli),  nt  Vancouver.  Had  it  not  been  for  tb« 
kindtiou  ofthii  etcellont  man,  many  of  ua  would  have  aufTurod  ureally,  and  I  havt 
no  doubt,  that  much  injuitico  haa  been  dona  him,  bv  confounding  hia  ueraunal 
eonduct  with  that  of  many  of  hia  countrymen.  The  policy  of  the  cfompanj 
toward  the  Indiana,  haa,  it  ia  true,  been  very  aeriautly  condomnod,  aa  will  be  atiea 
by  Mr.  Spnutdiiig'a  communication,  embraced  in  Mr.  Pundleton'a  report,  but  it  ia 
very  quuationable,  whether  Dr  McLaughlin  ia  jiiitly  chargeHblo  with  all  tho  evila 
that  have  nriaon  out  of  tt.  It  ia  certainly  true,  thnt  he  haa  been  in  aome  inoaiure 
the  victim  of  miarcproaentation  ;  for  I  know  uf  my  own  knowlHlge,  that  tho  Indiana 
of  Southern  Oregon,  and  ihoao  tribea  bordering  on  the'  Californian  line,  Inaiead 
•f  being  inoflenaive  and  well-diapoaed,  aa  deacribod  by  Mr.  Spauiuinir,  are  on  tho 
eontrnry  hoilile,  thicviah,  and  treacheroua.  Thia  ia  aomethitig  towarda  a  general 
Tefutntion.  It  ia  certain  that  the  Doctor  liimi^clf  haa  uniformly  aided  aetttura,  by 
■upplying  thom  with  farming  implemonti,  and  with  aced  grain,  aa  n  loan,  to  bo 
returned  out  of  the  auccceding  crop.  He  haa  oven  went  ao  far  aa  to  lend  them 
hoga,  to  bo  returned  two  or  three  yoara  afterward,  by  their  iaaue  of  the  aame  age ; 
to  furnish  oxen  to  break  their  ground,  and  cowa  to  aupply  milk  to  their  familiea. 
Thia  certainly  appeara  to  me  to  bo  a  vury  poor  way  to  retard  the  aottlcment  of  the 
legion,  and  to  diacouragn  adventurera  wlio  nrrive  in  it. 

A  great  deal  hna  boeri  aaid  againat  him  hocauan  ho  hna  refuaed  to  aell  the  cattle 
belonging  to  tho  Company,  but  thoae  who  have  made  theae  complainta,  have 
eerlainly  reflected  very  littlo  upon  tho  aubjcct,  and  aro  incapable  of  inoi^auring  the 
enlarged  acopo  of  the  Doctor*a  policy.  The  aupply  of  the  cattlo  ■  nd  aheep  of  the 
■ottlementa  waa  very  limited,  and  the  great  object  haa  been  to  increaae  it.  Thia 
could  only  be  carried  out  by  secure  meaauroa  for  their  protection  ;  and  it  would  have 
been  abaurd,  indeed,  while  tho  authoritiea  of  the  Fort  were  denying  themaelvea  the 
hizury  of  beef  or  mutton,  to  carry  out  this  important  object,  if  they  ahould  huve 
sold  cattle  to  thoae  whose  caprice  mighl  destroy  them  at  pleasure.  Doaidea,  all  the 
-  cattle,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few,  were  inferior  Spanish  animals,  and  it  was 
a  matter  of  necessity  to  improve  the  stock,  by  crossing  them  with  thoae  of  the 
Engliah  breed.  The  same  case  existed  with  regard  to  the  sheep,  which  were  from 
California,  but  which,  by  repeated  crossings,  huve  at  length  not  only  been  greatly 
increased,  but  but  huve  been  improved  nearly  to  the  condition  of  full  blooda. 

The  Bcience  of  atock  raising,  the  rouifh  mountain  men  who  were  tho  first  aettlen 
from  the  States,  did  not  understand.  They  could  only  undersfand  that  brutea  wore 
made  to  kill,  and  hence  the  disaatiafaction,  and  consequent  rumplaint.  Having 
improved  his  stock,  and  accomplished  a  propter  degree  of  increase,  the  Doctor  waa 
ready  enough  to  sell  on  reasouHble  terms,  though,  to  say  the  truth,  he  did  not  find  a 
very  ready  market.  The  buainesa  of  aheep  raising  on  a  small  scale  is  acarcely 
worth  attention.  The  wolvea  are  sure  to  kill  the  animals,  unless  they  are  continue 
ally  attended  by  a  shepherd,  and  carefully  folded  at  night ;  and  besides,  woollen 
goods  can  be  had  here  so  cheap,  that  their  fleece  hardly  pays  for  the  care  required 
to  raise  it,  and  the  raising  of  nomed  cattle,  and  wheat,  is  much  more  profitable. 
So  far  as  its  own  individual  interests  are  concerned,  (without  regard  to  the  claim  to 
sovereignty  from  exclusive  occupation,)  it  is  not  the  interest  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  any  longer  to  retard  the  settlement  of  this  country.  The  beaver  have 
nearly  been  exhausted  from  the  region  ;  the  Indiana  are  year  by  year  rapidly 
paasing  away,  and  even  those  that  remain,  can  bring  nothing  to  the  Company  in  the 
way  of  trade.  By  aettlement  from  the  States,  tho  Company,  who  monopolize  the 
commerce  and  manufacturos  of  the  place,  obtain  white  mori  for  cuatomers,  the  trade 
of  one  of  whom  ia  worth  that  of  forty  Indiana,  who  have  nothing  to  sell. 

The  prices  of  groceries  and  clothing  at  Vancouver,  are,  upon  a  general  average, 
the  same  as  in  the  States,  aome  that  cost  more,  being  balanced  by  those  that  come  at 
less.  Loaf  sugar  of  the  firat  quality,  is  worth  20  cents  per  lb.  ;  coffee,  2i  cents ; 
brown  sugar,  12^  cents.  Tea  is  better  and  cheaper  than  in  the  States,  the  road 
to  China  being  so  much  shorter  than  from  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  lying  aa  it  were 
right  oppoaite  the  door  of  the  Columbia  river.  Woollen  gooda  and  ready  made 
clothing  being  introduced  here  without  duty  as  it  is  considered  an  English  pott,  are 
greatly  cheaper  than  with  us.  A  very  good  strong  quality  of  blue  broadcloth  six 
quarters  wide  can  be  had  for  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  centa  per  yard.  A  very 
neat  cloth  roundabout,  comea  at  $4,37^ ;  pantaloona  at  five  dollars ;  heavy,  well- 
made  cotton  shirts  are  worth  13  centt  Ivlackinaw  blankets  of  superior  quality, 
$3,50  each.  All  articles  of  cutlery  are  r.Lo  cheap  from  the  same  reason  as  the 
above.  Calicoes  and  brown  cottons  are  about  the  same  as  in  the  States.  Iron  is 
about  10  cents  a  pound ;  gunpowder  86  cents ;  lead  12i  cents,  and  shot  the  lame. 

7 


98 


HiaTORT  or  OREGON. 


Boots  and  shoes  are  yet  very  high,  and  crockery  tf  al)  descn'ptiont  is  aTso  dlBsr 
Chains,  tools,  and  farming  implennents,  are  very  reasonable  ;  the  best  Gary  ploughir 
ean  be  had  to  order  from  an  excellent  blacluniith  at  the  place  at  314  cents  per 
pound.  Wheat  is  worth  one  dollar  a  boshet ;  potatoes^  40'  cents ;  fresh  pork  19 
cents,  pickled  12^ ;  frdsh  beef,  6  cents  per  pmmd.  American  cows  bring  from 
S60to$75v  and  Spanish  from  S30  to  $40;  osm  from  $7S>  to  1125,  per  yoke;. 
American  horses  from  950  to  76  dollars  each.  There  ia  a»  abundance  of  poultry 
in  the  country,  and  there  are  also  a  plentiful  supply  of  the  two  cheees  of  domestic 
animals  known  by  the  familiar  appellations  of  eats  and  dogsy  but  stilf  I  wouldl  adviso 
emigrants  to  bring  dogs  with  them  that  are  of  a  good  breed,  a»  in  a  country  where 
so  much  game  a^nds,  and  where  there  are  herds  to  watch,  they  are  calculated  to- 
be  very  useful. 

All  the  goods  sold  ait  Vancoaver  are  of  the  most  superior  qnolity,  and  tho  purcha' 
ser  in  thie  region  of  general  honesty  and  enterprise,  receiveo  them  at  twelve  montho 
credit ;  so  thus  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  poor  emigrint  after  hia  arrival  here,  va- 
nishes at  once.  This  is  a  country  of  peace  and  good  will ;  every  new  comer  is  re* 
eeived  as  a  brother ;  the  poor  man's  wealth  lies  in  his  arms,  and  the  industry  and 
enterprise  which  brought  him  here  to  claim  by  hia  labor  heaven's  first  gifts  in  the 
riches  of  the  soil,  is  accepted  aa  the  substantial  and  sufficient  guarantee  of  hia  good 
feith. 

The  utmost  liberaKty  characteriaea  all  the  dealinga  with  tha  stranger  and  even 
with  the  resident.  If  your  fortunes  have  been  adverse,  and  you  are  not  ablo  t»  pay 
for  last  year'a  dealings  you  are  required  to  give  your  note,  drawing.inteveat  at 
five  per  cent.  Instances  have  come  to  my  knowledge  since  my  arrival,  in  which 
Dr.  McLaughlin  has  extended  the  credit  of  some  of  his  customero  for  two  or  three 
years  together.  He  has  supplied  most  of  the  members  of  last  year's  emigration  witb 
such  articles  as  they  needed,  taking  in  payment  only  thepledge  of  theii  honest  faceo 
and  bard  hands.* 


CHAPTER  IX. 


The  Chief  Factor's  frohity — Departure  from  Vancouver — Wajrpato  latmiA — Game 
— The  Willamette — Lirmtan — FaUatry  Plaint — The  Klackamus — The  Fallt— 
Fallatry  River — Thomas  McKay — Yam  Hill  Xiver—Multonomah — MeFarley 
and  Diemherten — Theirnew  positions — The  half  heeds. 

I  iiAvi  stated  before  that  the  special  object  of  my  journey  to  Vancouver  Was  to* 
consummate  the  arrangement  I  had  made  with  Mr.  McKinley  of  Fort  Wallawalla, 
in  regard  to  the  exchange  of  our  cattle.  On  the  morning  after  my  afrival^  I  there' 
fore  opened  my  business  to  the  Doctor,  and  presented  hin»  with  the  aforesaid  gen* 
tleman^s  order.  The  old  gentlemen  at  once  gave  evident  signs  of  displeasure.  He 
saw  in  a  nrament  that  Mr.  McKinley  had  taken  advantage  of  out  ignorance  to  drive 
a  sharp  bargain,  and  gave  an  immediate  and  decided  dissent  t»  the  whole  proceed- 
ing- 

"  Are  yeu  aware,"  said  he  to  me,  "  that  enr  Spanish  cattle  are  muck'  inferior  to- 

yours  1" 

I  told  him  I  thought  they  were  from  the  specimens  I  had  seen  at  hia  place. 

"  And  yon  have  learned,"  continued  he,  ^  that  cattle  may  be  safely  driven  front' 
Wallawalla  to  this  post  V 

1  admitted  that  the  success  of  our  emigraatain  buinging  throagh  their  atoek,  had 
convinced  me  of  that  fact. 

**  Mr.  McKinley  has  done  very  wrong,"  said  he,  shaking  his  head,  "  very  wrong^ 
indeed  f  Tour  caAtle  are  superior  to  those  I  should  be  obliged  to  give  you,  and 
you  would  be  mucb  the  losers  by  the  arrangement.  I  will  net  consent  to*  profit  by 
your  reliance  on  eur  good  faitb.  I  wiil  write  to  Mr.  McKinley  to  take  good  care  of 
your  animals,  and  to  deliver  them  to  you  whenever  yeu  have  settled  upon  your  final 
residence.  If  yen  should  decide  upon  settling  near  us,  we  shall  have  the  advantage 
of  improving  the  breeds  by  them.    But  coma,  Mr. ,  leave  this  matter  to  me  r 

*  There  is  nothinif  wonderfiil  in  all  this.  The  Doctor  could  do  buiineu  in  no  other  way 
witk  the  claii  of  customen  he  leeki,  and  as  foirthe  taking  of  the  note  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
when  the  niifortunet  of  his  creditor  have  left  nothing  eUe  to  take,  it  is  a  measure  itnctly 
protective  of  liimseir,  and  has  nothing  of  generosity  in  ft..  The  Doctor  is  doubtless  a  very  •X'- 
caUent  man,  but  the  fcbove  ciroumstances  only  prove  him  to  be  a  very  good  merchant. 


mS'TORY   OF  OREGON. 


9d 


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let  us  .drop  business  for  the  present,  and  lake  a  turn  down  towards  the  river ;  T  wish 
to  give  some  directions  to  an  expedition  to  Fort  George,  and  then  I  wish  to  show 
you  a  splendid  stallion  which  I  bought  from  an  Indian  this  morning." 

It  may  be  supposed  by  some,  that  Dr.  McLaughlin,  under  the  idea  that  I  was  one 
«r  the  leaders  of  our  formidable  expedition,  was  practising  upon  me  a  piece  of  most 
adroit  Anesse,  t«  enlist  my  favor  at  the  outset,  but,  as  I  have  had  mucn  the  best  op- 
portunity to  judge,  I  siiall  not  hesitate  to  decide  in  favor  of  his  entire  sincerity. 

That  I  may  not  overlook  it,  I  wilt  take  this  opportunity  to  state  that  when  I  was 
«t  Vancouver,  the  cattle  of  our  emigration  which  had  been  driven  clear  through  to 
the'Willamette,  were  improving  rapidly,  and  many  of  the  o.xen  were  already  ao  far 
recruited  as  to  be  able  to  be  worked  daily  in  the  plough. 

Having  concluded  my  business  at  Vancouver,  and  after  having  spent  three  very 
pleasant  days  in  the  hospitable  society  of  the  place,  I  determined  to  proceed  on  to  the 
Willamette  to  make  a  selection  of  my  final  location. 

Five  miles  sail  down  the  Columbia  brings  you  to  the  eastern  mouth  of  the 
Willamette.     The  first  object  that  strikes  you  immediately  upon  your  entrance  is 
Saury's  Island,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  Willamette  or  Wappato  Island.    This 
is  a  long  tract  of  low  land  about  twenty  miles  in  length,  and  about  five  in  width. 
It  lies  directly  in  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  thus  splitting  the  stream,  causes  it  to 
disembogue  by  two  outlets  into  the  Columbia  at  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles  from 
each  other.    Its  surface  is  mostly  a  low  bottom  prairie  which  overflows  every  sum- 
mer, and  it  is  intersected  in  every  direction  with  small  shallow  lakes  in  which  grows 
a  species  of  Indian  potatoe  called  "  Wappato,"  similar  in  flavor  to  the  Irish  potatoe, 
and  being  a  most  excellent  and  nutritious  description' of  food.     There  are,  however, 
several  spots  of  fir  timber  on  it,  on  high  ground  above  high  water,  and  also  a  large 
•mount  of  cotton  wood,  white  oak  and  ash  timber  in  several  portions  of  it.     There 
are  immenee  numbers  of  wild  hogs  upon  the  island,  the  issue  of  some  placed  there 
several  years  ago  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  find  u  plentiful  subsistence 
in  the  Wappato  root,  and  on  the  mast  of  the  oak.     On  the  lakes,  marshes  and 
rivers  of  this  place,  may  be  found  innumerable  swarms  of  wild  fowl,  consisting  of 
ducks,  geese  and  swans.     These  the  Indians  kill  in  great  numbers  and  sell  to  the 
whites  at  extremely  low  rates,  the  former  being  charged  at  four,  the  second  six,  and 
the  latter  at  ten  loads  of  powder  and  shot  each.     A  family  could  easily  be  supported 
here  on  wild  fowl  alone.     After  you  pass  up  the  river  for  two  miles,  you  come  to  the 
Willamette  slough  where  tho  stream  divides  itself ;  the  smaller  portion  turning  to 
the  left  and  running  down  in  that  direction  along  the  island  till  it  reaches  the 
Columbia  15  miles  south  of  the  northern  mouth.     From  the  slough  starts  a  ridge  of 
lofty  mountains  about  fifteen  hundred  feet  in  height,  running  parallel  with  the  bank 
of  the  river  up  along  its  course.     These  are  covered  with  immense  forests  of  fit, 
white  cedar,  hemlock,  cherry,  maple,  and  some  other  kinds  of  trees,  but  the  fir  and 
cedar  constitute  nine  tenths  of  the  whole  body  of  the  timber.     The  space  between 
this  ridge  and  the  river  is  low  bottom  land,  which  overflows  in  some  years,  except 
at  a  point  five  miles  from  the  river's  mouth  that  has  since  been  laid  out  by 
General  M'Carver  and  myself  under  the  name  of  Linntan.     This  stands  upon  a  high 
piece  of  level  land  about  five  feet  above  the  level  of  the  stream,  and  from  its  being 
the  nearest  eligible  site  for  a  settlement  on  the  Willamette,  it  appeared  to  us  to 
ofier  superior  advantages  for  a  town.     As  1  may  be  supposed,  from  the  fact  I  have 
above  stated,  to  be  interested  in  this  point,  I  will  pass  it  without  further  remark. 
When  you  reach  Linntan  you  have  as  yet  seen  no  fine  farming  or  grazing  country, 
except  that  which  is  covered  with  immense  bodies  of  timber  requiring  too  vast  a 
labor  to  remove.    From  Linntan,  there  is  a  good  road  passing  over  the  ridge  of 
mountains  I  have  mentioned,  and  leading  out  ten  miles  to  the  famous  Fallatry 
Plains.     As  you  approach  within  five  miles  of  this  region  of  exhuberant  fertility,  the 
timber,  which  is  mixed  fir  and  cedar,  becomes  more  scattering,  and  the  country 
gradually  more  open.    These  plains,  as  they  are  called,  consist  of  a  succession  of 
small  prairies  about  three  miles  long,  and  two  broad,  separated  from  each  other  by 
small  groves  of  timber,  and  stretching  west  from  Linntan,  until  they  connect 
with  the  Yam  Hill  country,  which  I  shall  hereafter  describe.     These  beautiful  plains 
are  almost  encircled  by  a  ridge  of  verdant  mountains,  in  the  form  of  a  horso  shoe ; 
its  convex  sweeping  towards  the  Willamette  and  the  open  end  running  into  the  Yam 
Hill  valley.    This  ridge  of  mountains  is  in  many  places  heavily  timbered,  and  in 
others  the  timber  is  very  scattering,  the  surface  of  the  mountain  being  covered  instead, 
with  fine  grass,  constituting  an  inexhaustible  range.     How  far  apart  this  horse 
shoe  is  at  the  base,  I  cannot  with  exactness  tell,  but  I  suppose  it,  from  a  cursory 
observation,  to  be  from  twenty  to  thirty  miles,  and  enclosing  in  its  boundaries  land 


•  i  I 


i 


'.ii 


_J^ -^ 


100 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


(enough  for  two  fine  countries.  These  plains  are  ffently  underlating  smooth  ptgimea', 
with  a  black  fertile  soil  upon  a  clay  foundation.  The  fir  timber  comes  immediately 
up  to  the  prairie,  so  that  in  five  stops  you  can  be  out  of  the  open  field,  in  whose 
velvet  smoothness  not  even  a  twig  can  be  seen,  into  the  dark  green  recesses  of  an 
everlasting  forest  of  the  tallest,  straigbtest  timber,  studded  in  the  thickest  and  most 
formidable  array.  I  should  think  there  was  rail  timber  enough  upon  ten  of  these 
acres  to  fence  five  hundred. 

There  are  no  deep  branches  running  through  these  plains,  but  the  water  runs  off 
in  little  vallies  about  ten  yards  wide,  and  where  these  vallies  reach  the  forest,  they 
are  covered  with  black  ash  and  white  oak  timber.  There  is  also  at  various  places 
around  these  prairies  fino  bodies  of  white  oak  timber.  Take  them  altogether,  I  havo 
never  in  my  life  seen  prairies  more  beautiful  than  these  are,  or  that  were  situated 
more  advantageously  for  cultivation.  The  first  settlements  in  this  voluptuous  region 
were  made  about  three  years  ago,  and  they  now  extend  to  about  fifteen  miles  into 
their  bosom,  and  already  embrace  many  fine  farms,  some  containing  as  much  as  a 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  in  fine  cultivation.  Were  I  possessed  of  a  poet's  imagina- 
tion I  might  describe  in  spontaneous  song  the  superlative  loveliness  of  this  delightful 
scene  as  viewed  from  the  slope  of  one  of  the  encircling  bills,  but  not  being  gifted 
wifh  the  poet's  frenzy,  I  must  leave  the  features  of  this  delightful  region  to  the 
imagination  of  the  reader. 

The  Willamette  river  is  navigable  for  ships  for  five  miles  above  Linntan,  bat 
after  passing  up  that  distance,  you  come  to  a  bar  which  forbids  the  further  passage 
of  vessels  of  any  draught.  Small  vessels  and  steamboats,  however,  can  ascend 
to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Falls.  Three  miles  below  the  Falls,  you  come 
to  the  mouth  of  a  stream  called  the  Klackamus,  which  enters  the  river  from  the 
east.  It  rises  in  the  President's  range,  and  in  its  course  of  thirty  miles,  collects  a 
considerable  body  of  water,  which  it  contributes  to  the  main  stream.  Its  current 
is  rapid  and  broken,  and  not  navigable  to  any  available  degree,  and  its  tide  sets  with 
so  strong  a  force  into  the  Wallamette,  as  to  offer  a  serious  impediment  to  boats 
stretching  across  its  mouth. 

As  we  neared  the  Falls,  the  water  was  shallow  and  fretted  by  the  irregular  surface 
of  the  bottom,  and  we  were  obliged  on  coming  up  to  it  to  make  a  portage  beyond. 
At  the  place  of  our  debarkation,  on  the  eastern  bank,  rose  a  perpendicular  wall  of 
rock,  stretching  somo  distance  down  the  river.  Through  this,  however,  you  find 
an  easy  avenue,  but  recently  cut,  to  the  high  land  above,  which  as  soon  as  you  as- 
cend you  find  yourself  amid  the  forests  and  the  prairies  of  the  upper  plains. 

After  rising  above  the  Falls,  we  came  in  view  of  Oregon  City,  the  town  of  secon- 
dary importance  in  the  territory.  Here  is  situated,  at  the  present  time,  from  eighty 
to  an  hundred  families,  with  stores,  mills,  workshops,  factories,  and  all  the  conco- 
mitants of  thriving  civilization.  They  have  likewise  an  independent  government 
of  their  own,  and  as  far  as  things  have  progressed,  every  thing  has  gone  well. 
Great  improvements  arc  meditated  at  this  place,  and  Dr.  M'Laughlin,  who  is  the 
owner  of  the  first  establishment  you  meet  in  rising  from  the  lower  bed  of  the 
river,  meditates  the  project  of  cuttii>g  a  canal  around  the  Falls  for  the  purpose  of 
the  more  easy  transportation  of  the  harvests  and  manufactures  of  the  upper  settle- 
ments of  the  Columbia.* 

The  Falls  presented  a  beautiful  sight  as  they  rushed  |in  alternate  sheet  and  foam, 
over  an  abrupt  wall  of  dark  rock  stretching  obliquely  across  the  stream,  and  the 
hoarse  uproar  of  the  waters  as  they  tumbled  into  the  bed  of  the  river  below,  lent  an 
additional  solemnity  to  the  imposing  grandeur  of  the  scenery  around. 

The  river's  edge,  for  several  miles  above  them,  is  bordered  by  a  row  of  moun- 
tains, shutting  out  the  surrounding  prospect  by  their  continually  intervening  bulks, 
from  us  who  sailed  upon  the  silvery  bottom  of  the  immense  green  trough  between. 
There  was  nothing  forbidding  in  their  aspects  however,  for  their  sides  were  cov- 
ered with  umbrageous  forests  of  thickly  studded  timber  of  the  most  magnificent 
description.  About  fifteen  miles  above  the  falls,  these  hills,  by  a  gradual  modifica- 
tion of  their  altitude,  roll  into  verdant  undulations,  spreading  at  last  into  level 
grassy  plains,  and  alternating  with  fiourishmg  clumps  of  timber  land.  At  this  point, 
we  came  upon  McKay's  settlement,  which  is  situated  on  the  eastern  bank,  and  pre- 
sents all  the  evidences  of  a  flourishing  [little  town.  Thomas  McKay,  its  founder, 
is  a  native  of  this  region  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  being  the  joint  descendant 
of  one  of  the  early  fur  traders  belonging  to  the  Pacific  Company,  and  a  Chippeway 
squaw.    The  son,  following  the  fortunes  of  his  father,  grew  up  in  the  service  of 

,  *  We  have  already  seen  that  this  project  is.in  course  of  cozuummation.  , 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


101 


as- 


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the  North  West  Assoeiatiun,  and  transferred  hinnself,  at  the  time  of  its  dissolution, 
into  that  of  the  Hudson's  Bay.  Having  at  length  acquired  a  competence,  he  re- 
tired from  their  arduous  service,  and  estabhshed  himself  in  his  present  location. 
Ho  may  now  be  said  to  be  the  most  wealthy  man  in  the  valley  of  the  Willamette, 
having  an  extensive  and  well  stocked  farm,  and  being  the  owner  of  a  grist  mill  of 
superior  construction,  which  must  have  cost  him  several  thousand  dollars  to  erect. 
He  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  two  races,  and  combines  the  energy  and  perseverance 
of  the  one,  with  the  strong  passions  and  determined  will  of  the  other.  His  life  has 
been  one  scene  of  wild  adventure,  and  in  the  numerous  conflicts  of  tho  ea  ly  trap- 
pers with  the  savage  tribes,  he  was  always  foremost  in  the  fight,  and  the  most  re- 
markable in  his  display  of  daring  bravery  and  enduring  courage.  Many  a  red  man 
has  fallen  in  conflict  beneath  his  rifle,  and  tho  warlike  bands  that  have  gradually 
moved  away,  or  been  subdued  into  obedience,  well  recollect  the  terrible  prowess  of 
their  dreaded  cousin. 

Between  this  town  and  the  mission  establishment  above,  (a  distance  of  forty 
miles,)  farms  are  sprinkled  all  along,  and  at  twelve  miles  above  McKay's,  we  meec 
another  flourishing  village,  called  iarvis's  settlement,  containing  between  thirty  and 
forty  families,  which  are  about  divided  as  to  national  distinction.  It  was  originally 
a  mere  collection  of  retired  Hudson's  Bay  servants,  hut  the  gradual  accession  of 
American  settlers,  has  thus  changed  its  co'nplexion.  This  is  a  significant  circum- 
stance, and  clearly  indicates  that  it  is  our  destiny  to  first  alter  and  then  reverse  the 
political  balance  of  every  settlement  in  Oregon. 

In  my  progress  up  the  river  I  omitted  to  mention  the  fact  that  at  a  short  distance 
above  the  falls,  wo  come  to  the  mouth  of  another  small  tributary  on  the  west,  called 
the  Fallatry  river.  It  takes  its  rise  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  range  of  moun- 
tains which  I  have  described  as  encircling  the  Fallatry  plains,  and  in  its  course 
t(irough,them,  pursues  a  southeasterly  direction  until  it  empties  into  the  Willamette. 

The  next  stream  entering  the  Willamette  on  its  western  bank,  is  the  Yam  Hili 
river.  This  tributary  rises  in  a  west,  or  south  west  direction  from  the  point  of  its 
junction  with  the  Willamette,  in  the  range  of  low  mountains  that  run  along  the 
edge  of  the  coast.  It  starts  from  its  source  in  a  northwest  direction,  and  receives 
a  number  of  smaller  tributaries  in  the  shape  of  creeks.  The  valley  of  this  stream 
is  a  very  fine  country,  consisting  of  prairie,  spotted  with  groves,  and  oak  timber 
growing  upon  the  same  rich  vegetable  soil  that  is  spread  upon  its  plains.  It  ex- 
tends to  the  bases  of  the  mountains  in  which  tlio  Yam  Hill  takes  its  rise,  and  from 
its  westernmost  limit  the  roar  of  the  adjacent  ocean  can  be  heard.  The  route  to 
California  passes  some  distance  along  the  line  of  this  valley,  and  a  most  excellent 
load  can  be  had  leading  from  it,  through  the  Fallatry  plains,  to  Linntan. 
,  The  country  all  along  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Willamette,  above  McKay's  set- 
tlement, is  as  good  as  tho  Yam  Hill  country,  or  tho  Fallatry  Plains,  and  is  much 
the  same,  both  in  regard  to  its  natural  productions,  and  its  soil.  There  aro  fine 
facilities  for  intercommunication  with  its  different  points ;  the  line  of  travel  is  level 
and  easy,  and  it  has  in  consequence,  secured  throughout  its  course,  a  row  of  settle- 
ments which  in  a  few  years  will  extend  into  a  continuous  chain. 

After  you  leave  Jarvis's  settlement,  you  proceed  up  the  river  for  about  thirty 
miles,  when  you  come  to  the  principal  town  of  Oregon.  This  is  situated  on  the 
eastern  batik  of  the  Willamette,  and  is  ninety-four  miles  from  the  Columbia  river. 
It  was  first  formed  in  1834,  by  a  party  of  American  missionaries  under  the  direc- 
Jaon  of  Messrs.  Lee,  Shepherd,  and  others,  and  its  vicinity  had,  even  previous  to 
that  period,  been  selected  by  several  retired  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. It  has,  ever  since  the  above  period,  been  the  seat  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal mission,  and  has  now  become  the  head  quarters  of  the  operations  of  the  dis- 
trict. Passing  the  period  of  my  first  visit  to  it,  I  will  take  this  opportunity  to  state 
that  there  are  at  the  present  moment,  (March,  1844,)  at  this  place  over  two  hun- 
dred families,  and  that  there  are  in  the  whole  valley  of  the  Willamette,  more  than 
a  thousand  citizens  of  the  United  States.  A  church,  a  hospital,  an  academy,  mills, 
workshops,  comfortable  |dwellings,  a  herd  of  five  thousand  head  of  cattle,  and  all 
the  accompaniments  of 'civilization  and  refinement  are  to  be  found  here,  and  any 
man  who  can  be  content  to  live  beyond  the  limits  of  a  densely  populated  city,  can 
find  at  this  place  all  the  comforts  and  enjoyments  which  a  rational  being,  uncor- 
ruptpd  by  false  appetites,  can  crave. 

Already  a  court-house  has  been  erected,  and  a  military  organisation  formed,  the 
object  of  which  is,  protection  against  any  formidable  attack  from  the  border  In- 
dians, or  a  means  of  resistance  to  any  attempted  aggression  on  the  pnrt  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.     It  is,  however,  proper  for  mo  to  say  that  there  is  not  the 


II 


102 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


ft     : 


slightest  dread  of  either  of  these  circumstances,  as  no  hostile  'demonstration  hav 
been  made,  for  several  years,  upon  any  of  the  white  settlers  in  this  region,  and  we 
have  received  evidence  upon  evidence,  that  the  authorities  of  Vancouver  are  will- 
ing that  we  shall  take  the  burden  of  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  from  their  shoul- 
ders, so  far  as  regards  the  government  of  otuselves.  It  is,  doubtless,  their  wisest 
policy.  An  American  from  the  States  grows  up  with  the  notion  that  he  has  a  right 
to  help  govern  himself,  and  he  submits  with  a  very  bad  grace  to  any  exercise  of 
sovereignty  on  the  part  of  an  Englishman.  Indeed,  he  will  not  aobmit  to  it  at  all, 
and  I  have  no  kind  of  doubt  that  had  the  Hudsan's  Bay  Company  been  unwise 
enough  to  truckle  to  tho  policy  of  their  national  government,  and  to  insist,  in  despit» 
of  their  own  interests,  on  exercising  legal  control  over  us,  the  peaceful  valleys  of 
this  region  would,  ere  now,  have  been  dyed  with  baman  blood. 

McFarley  and  Dumberton,  both  appear  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the  field  that 
is  here  thrown  open  to  their  ambition,  and  already  these  aspiring  spirits  have  adopt- 
ed a  system  of  harrangueing  '*  The  People,"  with  a  view  of  effecting  new  political 
arrangements.  Each  evidently  thinks  Nature  intended  him  for  a  legislator,  and  con- 
stantly endeavors  to  lend  Destiny  some  aid  in  the  immense  up  hill  nature  of  her 
task.  As  might  be  supposed,  in  a  rivalry  of  this  kind,  the  opponents  represent 
opposite  sets  of  principles  and  opinions.  McFarley  being  a  red  hot,  ultra  radical, 
and  Dumberton,  representing  the  cold  and  calculating  conservative.  Each  have 
managed  already  to  secure  a  clique,  and  whilc^  McFarley  is  regarded  by  his  faction, 
as  "  a  thunder-an-lighmin-smart-feiier ;"  Dumberton  is  revered  by  his  "  following" 
as  '■  a  tremendyers  man."  I  am  inclined  to  think  McFarley  will  get  the  best  of 
the  struggle,  if  there  is  to  be  any  best  about  it,  for  he  advocates  extending  the  elec- 
tive franchise  to  the  Indians,  with  whom  he  has  already  secured  an  extensive  in- 
terest and  admiration,  by  his  expertness  with  the  rifle  and  in  spearing  fish  ;  while 
Dumberton  confines  himself  to  prc»found  and  ponderous  speculations  on  the  more 
abstruse  propositions  of  political  <iconomy. 

Whether  Messrs.  McFarley  or  Dumberton  will  have  anything  to  do  with  it  or 
not,  I  have  no  doubt,  that  the  civil  and  criminal  government  of  the  little  colonies 
of  this  territory  will  shortly  bo  perfectly  organised ;  and  in  a  manner  too  that  will 
render  us  entirely  independent  of  the  jurisdiction  or  assistance  of  the  United  Slates ; 
.in  which  case,  inasmuch  as  she  has  neglected  this  region  so  long,  she  must  look 
out,  say  some  of  the  old  settlers,  that  she  does  not  lose  it  altogether. 

There  are  a  large  number  of  Indians  about  this  settlement  and  valley,  who  are 
under  the  care  of  the  missionaries,  and  who  perform  much  of  the  servile  labor  of  the 
mission  establishment.  Indeed  they  are  employed  the  same  way  by  these  religious 
establishments,  throughout  the  territory,  as  they  are  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company ; 
so  if  there  is  anything  which  smacks  of  slavery  in  the  one  case,  it  necessarily  follows 
in  the  other. 

.  There  is  another,  and  pretty  numerous  branch  of  population  growing  up  here, 
which  cannot  be  passed  without  notice.  This  is  the  class  of  half  breeds,  the  issue 
of  the  Indian  women,  who  are  either  married  to,  or  fall  otherwise  in  the  haads  of  the 
careless  trapper,  or  the  indifferent  woodsman.  As  there  is  a  great  scarcity  of  white 
women  in  the  territory,  this  state  of  things  naturally  results,  and  the  consequence 
will  be,  that  the  half  breeds,  during  the  next  five  or  six  years,  will  form  by  far  the 
most  numerous  native  born  of  the  population.  Some  of  these  are  fine  specimens 
of  the  two  races,  and  if  the  cross  turns  out  many  such  men  as  McKay,  there  will 
be  no  reason  to  regret  this  perversion  of  ft^icy,  or  rather  this  push  of  necessity  (»> 
the  part  of  their  male  progenitors. 

At  a  short  distance  above  Multonmah,  a  stream  called  the  Santa  Ann  I  believe, 
enters  the  Willamette  from  the  cast,  along  the  banks  of  which  there  is  a  vast  body 
of  fine  country.  It  takes  its  rise  in  the  portion  of  the  President's  range  in  the  vici- 
nity of  Mount  Jefferson. 

The  portion  of  the  Willamette  valley  lying  between  the  Cascade  ridge  and  the 
range  of  low  mountains  next  the  ocean,  is  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  miles  wide,  and 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty,  to  three  hundred  feet  long.  It  consists  of  rich  prairie 
land  and  timber,  and  let  who  will  say  to  the  contrary,  is  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of 
farming  land  to  be  found  in  any  country.  There  is  very  little  difference  in  the  seve- 
ral portions  of  this  valley,  with  the  exception  of  the  circumstance,  that  the  timber 
is  larger  and  a  little  more  abundant  in  some  places  than  in  others,  and  no>w  and  then 
the  prairies  vary  to  some  extent  in  size.  This  section  constitutes  the  great  body 
of  the  prime  farming  and  grazing  section  of  the  lower  region  of  Oregon,  though 
there  are  other  beautiful  portions  in  the  valleys  of  lh&  Tootoatutna^  the  Umpqua 
and  the  Klamet  farther  south. 


HrSTORY  OF  OREGON. 


103 


are 
the 


the 
and 


seve- 
iinber 
then 
body 
ough 
xtp^ua 


CHAPTER  X.  , 

iP«»ei/fe 'dotrn  the  Cohimbi*— Astoria— The  mouth  of  liu  Columbia — Lawyer  a  in 
Oregon — Lmo  twit — A^Uition  oj  the  comununily — iMtninous  view  of  the  gentle- 
men from  Big  Pigean — The  phtlosophv  of  $oul  saving  and  mode  of  converting 
savages  in  Oirgon — How  in  raise  wheat — FacilUies  for  farming  purposes — 
■General  view  of  the  (otiley  «/'  tke  WillameUe. 

To  reach  the  Willamette,  I  had  procveded  down  the  Celumbia  to  the  eastern 
ineuth  'of  the  foriner  river  at  Wappato  Island.;  and  for  the  purpose  of  completing 
<the  r«ute  to  Astoria,  I  will  now  uUe  the  river  up  at  that  pemt  again  and  trace  it  to 
the  ocean.  Passing  along  Wappato  for  fifteen  amies,  you  come  to  the  western 
tnouth  of  the  WiNam«tte.  The  Island  at  this  point  is  high  and  has  a  bold  rocky 
shore,  right  up  te  which,  the  water  is  of  sufficient  depth  to  allow  a  large  class  vessel 
to  lie  up  and  unload,  an  important  advantage  in  case  the  point  should  ever  be  select- 
ed f«r  commercial  purposes.  On  the  southern  bank  of  the  river  itnmediaiely  below 
the  lower  mouth  «f  the  Willamette,  is  «  situation  which  would  afford  a  fine  site  for 
a  settlement  er  a  town,  ft  is  true  it  ts  covered  with  fine  heavy  timber,  but  it  rises 
gently  from  the  river,  «nd  through  the  forests  in  the  rear,  a  natural  gap  may  be  seen, 
which  off'  "  facilities  for  an  avenue  directly  to  the  riches  of  the  Fallatry  plains  be- 
hind.  Thti  11  jdson's  Bay  Company  perceiving  the  advantage  of  the  situation,  have 
already  built  a  house  there  and  nave  established  one  of  their  servants  in  it.  They 
faave  many  beuses  thus  spotted  about  on  eligible  sites,  the  whole  object  of  which 
in  many  cases  must  merely  be  the  eventual  assumption  of  a  prior  right,  by  pre-occu- 
pation,  in  «as8  others  should  wish  to  eettle  in  the  same  place. 

As  you  .pass  down  the  Columbia,  you  find  no  plains  along  the  river,  but  it  is  still 
twrdered  with  its  row  «f  mountains  running  al«ng  the  banks  on  either  side,  and 
bearing  upon  their  sides  the  everlasting  groves  of  timber.  A  few  miles  below 
Wappato  Island,  «n  the  other  side  of  the  river,  you  strike  the  mouth  of  the 
Coweliic  river,  in  the  valley  of  which  I  am  told  some  very  good  land  is  to  be 
found,  though  most  of  the  soil  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia  is  poor,  and  is 
unfit  for  the  production  of  wheat  or  the  esculent  grams,  except  sparsely  and  in 
epots.  Thia  feature  increases  as  you  proceed  northward,  and  the  land  in  the  vicinity 
of  Nisqually,  on  Puget'e  Sound,  is  incapable,  as  I  ant)  told,  of  ordinary  production.* 

Below  the  Cowelitc  river,  the  Columbia  begins  to  widen,  and  at  the  distance  of 
ten  milea  from  the  sea,  it  spreads  to  a  width  of  several  miles,  forming  by  its  singular 
extension  at  this  part,  the  portion  which  British  navigators  have  called  Gray's  bay, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  the  world  believe  that  Captain  Gray  did  not  discover  the 
Columbia,  but  only  entered  the  bay  into  vAick  it  disembogues,  to  the  distance  of 
twenty  or  tUrty  miles, 

Astoria,  or  Fort  George  as  it  is  now  called  by  the  company  who  have  it  in  pos- 
session, is  situated  on  the  soutb  bank  of  the  river,  about  ten  miles  from  the  ocean. 
it  stands  on  a  hill  side,  and  consists  only  of  a  few  acres  which  have  been  redeemed 
by  industrious  clearing  from  the  immense  forests  running  behind  it.  Some  of  these 
trees  are  «f  the  most  enormous  size,  and  the  soil  can  enly  be  got  at  with  immense 
labor  in  the  way  of  dealing.  Until  our  arrival,  it  consisted  only  of  three  or  four  \of 
houses  in  a  rather  dilapidated  condition,  but  now  it  is  revived  by  its  old  name  of 
Astoria,  by  Captain  Applegate  and  others,  who  have  laid  off  a  town  there,  and 
<livided  it  into  lots.  It  will  hardly  answer  the  expectations  of  those  who  go  to  it 
The  ground  is  rendered  too  wet  for  cultivation,  by  numerous  springs  that  run 
through  it  in  every  direction,  and  the  ocean  air  is  sure  to  blast  the  wheat  before  it 
can  ripen.  Garden  vegetablea,  however,  grow  there  finely..  Beyond  Astoria,  and 
nearer  to  the  ocean,  you  find  a  small  prairie  about  two  miles  long  by  three  wide. 
It  has  been  formed,  it  is  said,  by  the  ocean,  and  its  soil  is  represented  to  be  a  rich 
black  sandy  deposit,  varying  from  eight  to  fifteen  inches  deep,  when  it  comes  to  a 
foundation  of  pure  sand. 

The  HMuth  of  the  Columbia  is  the  only  harbor  for  ships  upon  the  whole  Pacific 
coast  of  Oregon.  Its  channel  is  very  difficult,  being  tortuous  in  its  course,  and  per- 
plexed by  sand  bars,  and  on  account  of  the  violence  of  its  breakers,  caused  by  the 
sudden  confluence  of  the  river's  descending  volume  and  the  ocean  tides,  it  is 
extremely  dangerous  for  more  than  two-thiids  of  the  year  to  attempt  to  enter  it. 

♦This  is  at  variance  with  the  account  of  Lieutenant  Wilkes,  who  represents  the  Nisqually 
establishment  as  a  very  good  one,  and  as  furnishing,  by  its  productiveness,  supplies  to  other 
stations  and  to  the  Russians. 


!!i 


m 


104 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


J 


it-    ' 


Once  in,  however,  nnd  there  is  good  anchorage  and  safe  navigation.  The  whole' 
coast,  in  fact,  is  perilous  to  approach,  and  a  north-east  wind  by  giving  navigators  a 
lee  shoro  of  black  overhanging  rocks,  heightens  their  danger  not  a  little.  The  only 
place  of  refuge  for  vessels  south  of  the  Columbia  on  the  Oregon  coast,  is  the  mouth 
"f  the  UmpquB,  a  river  entering  the  Pacific  in  42°  51',  where  vessels  drawing  eight 
feet  of  water  may  securely  enter,  A  similar  harbor  may  be  found  between  forty 
and  fifty  miles  to  the  north,  called  Gray's  Harbor,  which  also  affords  like  lecurity 
for  vessels  of  the  same  draught. 

Having  now  completed  the  account  of  the  line  of  route  from  the  state  of  Missouri 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbra,  I  will  now  return  to  tho  valley  of  the  Willamette  as 
the  point  of  the  greatest  interest,  and  after  a.  few  more  remarks  concerning  it,  will 
turn  my  attention  to  some  of  the  general  featirrea  of  the  territory. 

As  I  said  before,  ships  ascend  the  Columbia  to  the  lower  mouth  of  the  Willa- 
mette at  Wappato  island,  (and  as  high  as  the  Cascades,  in  a  direct  onward  course 
if  they  please,)  and  turning  into  the  river,  sail  five  miles  up  it  to  Linntan,  and! 
beyond  that,  five  miles  more.  There,  a  bar  forbids  the  further  progress  of  any  but 
small  vessels  which  may  proceed  onward  to  within  seven  or  eight  miles  of  the  falls^ 
and  boats  may  go  nearly  up  to  it  Above  the  falls,  t.ie  river  is  navigable  for  steam- 
boats for  over  fifty  miles. 

Before  passing  Oregon  city,  I  will  take  this  opportunity  to  mention  a  circumstance- 
in  relation  to  it,  which  is  not  a  little  amusing  in  its  character,  as  well  as  significant 
of  the  progress  of  civilization  and  social  refinement  in  this  primeval  wilderness. 
It  appears  that  Doctor  McLaughlin,  and  some  of  the  missionaries  of  the  settlement 
above,  are  rival  claimants  to  a  portion  of  it,  and  one  of  the  reverend  gentlemen 
connected  with  the  mission,  hits  given  way  to  his  litigious  feelings  and  employed  a 
Mr.  Ricard,  a  lawyer,  (we  have  lawyers  here  too  you  see,)  to  institute  a  suit  against 
the  doctor  for  the  site  in  dispute,  in  the  United  States  courts,  with  the  hope  of 
compelling  an  ejection  of  the  trespasser.  Mr.  Ricard  has  commenced  proceedings, 
by  putting  up  a  very  large  hand  bill,  giving  an  abstract  of  the  title  of  the  mission,, 
and  notifying  the  doctor  and  all  other  persons  to  quit  the  premises — warning  those, 
moreover,  who  have  not  as  yet  encroached,  by  no  means  to  do  so,  withoat  obtaining 
■f)ecial  leave  from  the  owners  aforesaid.  I  know  very  little  about  the  merits  of  this 
dispute,  but  I  do  know  that  this  is  the  fruitful  source  of  one-half  the  debates  of  the 
settlements.  It  takes  the  place  of.  foreign  and  domestic  news  of  other  portions  of 
the  world,  and  wonderful  are  the  speculations  that  are  projected  on  its  score.  It 
may  be  readily  supposed  that  such  a  circumstance  as  this,  has  not  been  overlooked 
by  McFiirley  and  Dumberton  ;  on  the  contrary,  both  snapped  at  it  with  the  avidity 
of  hungry  tigers.  McFarley  is  very  strenuous  in  favor  of  the  claims  of  his  own 
countrymen,  and  has  made  out  a  deduction  in  their  favor,  which  is  based,  I  believe, 
on  the  treaty  of  Utrecht^  or  sonte  other  equally  satisfactory  basis.  He  is  very 
decided  in  his  intention  of  sustaining  them  with  his  personal  influence  and  talents, 
and  has  solemnly  pledged  himself  even  to  the  extent  of  fighting  it  out  with  the  rifle. 
Dumberton,  on  the  other  hand,  though  equally  decided  in  favor  of  the  mission  claim- 
ants, avers  that  ho  cannot  but  regard  the  circumstance  of  this  dispute  with  the 
highest  degree  of  satisfaction.  "An  opportunity  is  now  furnished  us,"  says  he, 
"  through  this  insignificant  controversy,  to  settle  the  title  of  the  whole  country,  and 
to  expel  the  govermental  trespassers  from  every  point  and  portion  of  its  dominions." 
"This,"  he  adds,  "will  bring  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  ; 
Ireland  will  revolt ;  Canada  will  secede  ;  the  monarchs  of  the  Indies  will  throw  off 
their  slavish  yoke ;  Russia  unrestrained  will  snap  up  Turkey  as  a  famished  mastiff 
would  deal  with  a  fresh  kidney,  and,  in  short,  the  whole  world  would  bo  revolu- 
tionized, and  the  balances  of  power  altered  by  the  controversy  in  relation  to 
this  scrip  of  land."  Tbia  opinion,  backed  as  it  is  by  the  weight  of  Dumberton'* 
enormous  reputation  for  profound  sagacity,  has  created  no  slight  sensation  in  our 
little  world.  I  believe  Doctor  McLaughlin  has  been  made  acquainted  with  these 
views  of  the  gentleman  from  Big  Pigeon,  but  whether  their  forcefulness  created  any 
serious  alarm  in  his  mind,  or  whatever  other  effect  they  have  been  attended  with,  f 
have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 

So  far  as  the  philanthropic  objects  of  the  mission  are  concerned,  I  do  not  see  that 
they  can  derive  any  direct  or  indirect  benefit  from  the  possession  of  the  place  they 
strive  for  ;  though  I,  for  one,  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  their  relinquishing  no  right 
of  settlement  they  have  acquired  in  any  portion  of  the  territory  ;  but  I  here  feel 
bound  to  say,  as  a  portion  of  my  general  remarks  upon  this  territory,  that  all  the 
Missionaries  whom  I  have  seen  within  it,  have  succeeded  much  better  in  making 
farms,  raising  stock,  erecting  mills,  establishing  stores,  and  improving  their  own 


HISTORY    OF   OREGON. 


105 


tny 
h,I 


worldly  condition,  than  they  have  been  in  saving  the  louls  of  the  Indians.  I  have, 
however,  no  rishl  to  criticise  and  condemn  the  peculiar  system  of  these  gentlemen, 
for  they  should  certainly  know  more  about  the  redemption  of  souls  than  I  who 
never  worked  at  it.  It,  therefore,  is  not  for  me  to  say  that  the  Indian  will  not  more 
readily  imbibe  regenerating  grace  by  digging  the  ground  and  carrying  logs  on  his 
shoulders,  than  in  wearing  out  his  knee-pans  in  fruitless  ejaculations. 

The  Yam  Hill  River,  which  I  have  spoken  of  before  as  entering  the  western  bank 
of  the  Willamette,  is  navigable  for  canoes  and  keel  boats  up  to  its  forks,  about  fif- 
teen or  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth.  Above  this  still,  and  at  the  head  of  naviga- 
tion on  the  Willamette,  is  another  town  laid  out,  called  Champoe,  but  I  do  not  know 
that  any  lots  have  as  yet  been  sold  at  that  place. 

I  look  upon  the  Willamette  valley  as  one  of  the  finest  agricultural  countries  in 
America.  The  soft,  rich  soil  of  the  prairies  is  easily  broken  up  from  its  original 
imbedJudness  with  a  single  yoke  of  oxen,  or  a  team  of  horses,  and  the  moderation 
of  the  climate  allows  you  to  sow  spring  wheat  as  early  as  the  middle  of  February, 
and  from  that  until  the  \6th  of  May,  as  the  season  happens  to  run.  You  commence 
ploughing  in  October,  and  plough  and  sow  wheat  fronj  that  time  to  the  fifteenth  of 
May,  to  suit  the  spring  or  fall  crops.  There  is  not  much  difference  in  the  yield  of 
the  early  and  late  sowmgs,  but  you  must  put  about  twice  as  much  seed  in  the  ground 
for  the  latter  as  for  the  former.  The  land  yields  from  S5  to  40  bushels  to  the  acre. 
I  saw  a  field  of  five  acres  sown  about  the  I6th  of  May  last,  in  new  ground,  which 
produced  one  hundred  and  ten  bushels  of  the  most  excellent  grain. 

The  wheat  of  this  country  is  better  than  that  of  the  States.  The  grains  are 
larger  and  plumper,  and  a  bushel  weighs  several  pounds  more. 

This  country  produces  oats,  peas,  tomatoes,  and'  garden  vegetables  generally,  in 
great  abundance.  Irish  potatoes  and  turnips  grow  better  here  than  in  the  States. 
Sweet  potatoes  have  not  yet  been  tried,  with  the  exception  of  an  inferior  specimen, 
from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  they  did  not  succeed  well.  If  we  had  some  good 
seed  from  the  States,  I  have  no  doubt  wecotilJ  mak«  them  produce  very  well.  In- 
dian corn  does  not  succeed  well,  and  it  is  not  so  prt^able  a  crop  as  other  grain, 
yet  it  can  be  raised  here  in  sufficient  quantities  for  all  useful  purposes,  for  you  need 
but  little,  in  consequence  of  not  being  obliged  to  feed  your  siock. 

Fruit,  such  as  apples,  peaches,  cherries,  plumbs,  pears,  melons,  &c.,  thrive  here 
exceedingly  well ;  while  wild  fruit  and  berries  abound  in  the  utmost  profusion. 
Cranberries  are  found  in  great  quantities  near  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and  are 
brought  up  here  and  to  Vancouver,  by  the  Indians,  and  sold  for  almost  nothing. 
Blue-berries,  raspberries,  sal-lal-berries,  thorn-berries,  crab-apples,  a  kind  of  whortle- 
berry, and  strawberries  are  found  in  large  quantities  in  every  direction  in  this  sec- 
tion of  Oregon.  The  strawberries  of  this  country  are  peculiarly  fine ;  they  are 
larger  in  their  size  than  those  of  the  Slates,  and  possess  a  more  delicious  flavor. 

As  regards  the  country  for  grazing,  it  is  certainly  all  that  any  one  could  wish  it. 
Cattle  require  no  shelter  nor  feeding,  and  upon  the  Yam  Hill  plains  numerous  salt 
springs  supply  another  necessary  of  their  fodder.  Cows  calve  here  when  fifteen 
and  twenty  months  old.  This  is  also  a  good  country  for  raising  hogs ;  upon  the 
Willamette  below  the  falls,  and  on  the  Columbia,  they  live  upon  the  wappato-root, 
and  upon  the  plains  they  find  a  plentiful  subsistence  in  tho  grass  and  fruit  of  the 
white  oak.  The  grass  of  this  country  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  say  before,  is  pe- 
culiarly nutritious,  and  cattle  who  have  been  put  here  to  recruit,  recover  their  phy- 
sical energies  with  wonderful  rapidity  while  feeding  on  it.  In  the  last  of  November, 
the  period  of  my  first  visit  to  this  place,  I  saw  a  fine  sorrel  horse,  which  had  been 
brought  to  this  country  by  Mr.  John  Holeman  of  Clinton  County,  Missouri,  (hat  was 
turned  upon  the  grass  in  Fallatry  Plains  in  the  middle  of  the  previous  month.  He 
was  then  so  reduced  and  feeble,  with  the  fatigues  he  had  undergone  during  the  trip 
from  the  States,  that  he  could  barely  raise  a  trot ;  but  when  I  saw  him,  he  was  ia 
fine  condition  and  cMrvetting  about  the  plains  as  gaily  as  any  of  the  other  horses, 
with  whom  he  was  enjoying  primitive  independence.  Cattle  that  were  worked  from 
the  States  to  the  Dalles,  and  from  there  brought  down  to  the  Willamette  valley 
last  year,  have  borne  the  winter  well,  and  are  now  thriving  rapidly. 

The  climate  of  this  lower  section  of  Oregon,  is  indeed,  most  mild.  Having  now 
passed  a  winter  here,  permanently  and  most  comfortably  established  at  Linntan,  I 
am  enabled  to  speak  of  it  from  personal  experience.  The  winter  may  be  said  to 
commence  about  the  middle  of  December,  and  to  end  about  the  10th  of  February, 
and  a  notion  of  the  genial  nature  of  its  visitation  may  be  gained  from  the  fact,  that 
I  saw  strawberries  in  bloom  about  the  first  of  last  December  in  the  Fallatry  Plains, 
and  as  early  as  the  20th  of  February  the  wild  flowers  were  blooming  on  the  hill- 


I 


I 


106 


HI8T0RT  or  OREGON, 


• 


H  ■ ! 


,  tM 


•idet.  The  grait  hat  now  twen  growing  linee  the  10th  of  Februanr,  and  toward! 
the  end  of  that  month,  the  trees  were  budding  and  the  ehrubbery  in  bloom.  About 
the  26th  of  November,  we  had  a  apelt  of  cold  weather,  and  a  alight  fall  of  anow, 
which,  however,  was  gone  in  a  day  or  two.  In  December,  we  had  very  little  mow, 
•U  of  it  melting  ai  it  fell ;  in  January  we  had  more,  but  all  of  it  like  the  previ- 
ous falls,  melted  as  it  came  down,  with  the  exception  of  one  visitation,  that  manag- 
ed to  last  upon  the  groend  for  threo  days. 

The  soil  haa  not  been  frosen  more  than  one  inch  deep  during  the  whele  winter, 
end  ploughing  has  been  carried  on  without  interruption  throusmut  the  winter  and 
fall.  As  regards  rains  in  the  winter,  1  have  found  tnem  much  less  troublesome  than 
I  anticipated.  I  had  supposed,  from  whnt  I  had  heard  of  the  incessant  atorma  of 
this  region,  that  out>door  work  could  not  be  done  at  all  here,  during  the  rainy  sea- 
son, but  I  have  found  that  a  great  deal  more  labor  of  thia  description  can  be  per- 
formed hero,  than  during  the  same  period  in  the  western  states.  The  rains  fail  in 
gentle  showers,  and  are  generally  what  are  termed  dritzling  rains,  from  the  effect 
«f  which  a  blanket-coat  is  an  effectual  protection  for  the  whole  day.  They  are  not 
the  chilly  rains  which  stins  you  in  the  fall  and  spring  seasons  of  the  eastern  states, 
but  are  warm  aa  well  aa  li|^t.  They  are  never  hard  enough  in  the  worst  of  times, 
to  wash  the  roads  or  fields,  and  consequently,  you  can  find  no  gullies  worn  or  cut 
in  your  fields,  by  this  means. 

As  to  wind,  I  have  witnettei  lesn,  if  such  a  terra  car^  be  used,  than  at  any  other 
place  I  have  ever  been  in,  and  I  have  but  to  say,  that  if  the  timber  we  have  here, 
epread  their  lofty  branches  in  the  States,  they  would  be  riven  by  the  lightning,  and 
blown  down  to  an  extent  that  would  spare  many  of  them  the  blow  of  the  settler's 
«xe.  Here,  I  have  heard  no  thunder,  and  have  aeea  but  one  tree  that  had  been 
struck  by  lightning. 


:•'<•,    vi->» 


CHAPTER  XI. 


-  * 


Aborigines  of  Oregon — Their  nuti^ers  and  character — Their  eanoet — Their  mode 
of  fishing— Game — Timber — Fisheries — Water  power-*Mountains — A  volcano 
— Oomtitercial,  Agricultural,  and  Manufacturing  features  of  Oregon — Value  of 
the  arm  of  labor. 

Thv  aborigines  of  Oregon  form,  at  present,  nine-tenths  of  the  population  of  the 
whole  country,  and  from  their  newly  adapted  habits,  are  deserving  of  a  place  in  the 
social  census.  They  were  formerly  much  more  numerous,  but  like  all  the  savage 
race,  they  melt  away  from  the  white  man's  approach  like  shadows  before  the  ad- 
vancing sun.  I  have  no  means  of  accurately  ascertainins  their  number,  as  large 
bodies  of  them  are  in  the  habit  of  moving  from  place  to  place  to  reap  the  varying 
harvests  of  the  fisheries,  but  I  believe  they  somewhat  exceed  20,000.  They  are 
most  numeroua  in  the  Nez  Perces  country,  which  extends  eastward  from  Wallawalla, 
and  considerable  numbers  of  the  Cheenooks  attracted  by  the  fisheries,  are  to  be 
found  at  the  Dalles  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river.  They  are,  however, 
degenerate  and  broken,  and  instead  of  the  proud  and  warlike  being  which  presents 
itself  to  the  imagination  when  the  idea  of  an  American  Indian  enters  it,  they  but 
offer  to  the  actual  beholder  the  specimen  of  a  creature  degraded  almost  to  the  level 
of  A  beast,  and  capable  of  submitting  to  the  most  servile  abasement.  Indeed,  so 
completely  are  they  under  the  control  of  the  superior  intelligence  of  the  Anglo  Saxon 
settler,  that  they  can  scarcely  be  considered  in  a  much  more  dignified  light  than  as 
a  race  of  natural  villiens  or  serfs.  The  Nez  Perces  Indians  retain  in  a  greater  de- 
gree than  any  other,  their  ancient  independence ;  but  even  the  members  of  this 
tribe  fall  readily  under  the  control  and  mastery  of  the  whites. 

The  Indians  between  Wallawalla  and  the  Dalles  are  a  cowardly  and  thievish  set, 
and  the  portion  of  them  situated  at  the  latter  place,  in  addition  to  being  degraded 
and  ignorant  in  the  extreme,  are  so  addicted  to  stealing,  that  they  lay  hands  on 
every  trifle  that  comes  within  their  reach.  Those  portions  at  Vancouver  and  in 
the  valley  of  the  Willamette,  are  abject,  servile,  and  filthy  in  their  habits,  and  most 
of  them  go  half  naked  during  the  whole  year.  In  both  this  and  the  adjoining  region, 
they  perform  a  great  deal  of  work  for  the  whites,  and  where  labor  is  so  scarce  as  it 
u  iiere,  they  are  of  no  slight  assistance  to  the  settlements.  Many  of  them  make 
very  good  hired  hands,  and  they  are  found  particularly  useful  in  rowing  boats,  pad- 
dling canoes,  herding  cattle,  and  in  the  menial  operations  which  require  a  sort  of 


HISTORT   or   OBEQON. 


107 


<■ 


n, 

it 

ke 

id- 

of 


nfau  labor,  if  inch  •  term  etn  b«  uted,  that  would  be  dear  at  the  ootlay  of  a  valu- 
able aattler'a  time.  You  can  hire  a  Chenook  to  work  upon  a  farm  a  week  for  a 
ahirt  worth  83  centi. 

These  Indiana  conatruet  the  fineat  canoea  in  the  world.  They  make  them  out 
of  the  cedar  which  growa  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet 
long,  and  from  three  to  four  feet  wide.  Their  bottoma  are  flat,  like  thoae  of  akiffe, 
and  being  light,  thii  construction,  together  with  the  aharp  form  of  the  bowa,  makea 
them  very  awift.  In  fashioning  the  ranoe,  they  commence  upon  the  middle  and 
taper  it  gradually  to  a  sharp  point  at  each  end,  not  turning  it  up  with  a  flourish  like 
the  bows  and  atern  of  ordinary  vessels  of  the  kind.  The  only  ornament  they  put 
upon  them,  ia  a  aort  of  figure  head  made  of  a  aeparate  piece  of  wood,  which  is  fitted 
on  the  bows,  and  is  generally  beautified  with  a  rude  moaaie  of  aea-ahella  imbedded 
in  various  figures  in  the  wood. 

The  conduct  of  the  Hudson'a  Bay  Company  towarda  the  Indians,  haa  been  prompt 
and  discriminating,  both  in  the  distribution  of  benefits,  and  in  the  punishment  of 
offences.  They  have  not  held  a  whole  tribe  responsible  for  the  unauthorised  acta 
of  individuals,  but  have  in  all  eases  carefully  sought  out  the  real  perpetratora  and 
punished  them  without  fail.  When  the  country  was  first  visited  by  the  whites,  the 
nativea  were  of  a  ferocioua  and  warlike  character,  and  it  recjuired  sixty  men  to  pass 
up  the  Columbia  in  boats,  to  ensure  the  safety  of  the  expedition ;  but  now,  a  aingle 
individual  can  pass  without  molestation  to  the  Palles,  and  a  aquad  of  six  or  eight 
may  travel  in  perfect  security  through  any  portion  of  the  territory.  The  Flatheads 
ana  Snakes,  formerly  the  most  incorrigible,  have  long  been  peaceable,  honest,  and 
friendly.  One  of  the  gentlemen  belonging  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  told  me 
that  in  the  many  trading  expeditiona  they  nad  had  with  these  tribes,  they  had  never 
loat  the  first  article,  and  many  times  they  had  purposely  exposed  their  goods  to  tri- 
fling  depredationa,  for  tho  purpose  of  testing  their  honesty. 

All  of  the  tribes  of  Oregon  wear  their  hair  long,  and  are  exeeedinsly  fond  of  the 
dress  of  the  whites  ;  but  nothing  holds  so  strong  a  claim  to  their  admiration,  or  ao 
firm  a  seat  in  their  affections,  as  a  thirt.  A  pair  of  pantaloona  holds  the  next  place, 
a  coat  next,  and  so  on  through  the  inferior  articles  of  apparel.  They  ahow  the 
most  extravagant  delight  when  dressed  in  these  garments,  but  still  prefer  to  display 
the  shirt  on  the  outside  of  all.  Candor,  however,  compels  me  to  declare,  that  those 
who  are  fortunate  enough  to  possess  one  of  these  articles,  generally  make  it  do  the 
duty  of  a  full  dress.  They  call  the  Americans,  "Bottom"  which  title  they  have 
adopted  in  consequence  of  having  been  originally  informed  by  Captain  Gray,  the 
first  pale  face  who  ever  entered  their  territory,  that  he  came  from  a  place  called 
Boston.    The  English  they  call  King  George. 

The  Indiana  of  Oregon  are  exceedingly  addicted  to  gambling,  and  have  been 
known  to  pursue  this  demoraliaing  passion  to  the  fatal  length  of  even  atakiiig  their 
liberty  on  a  game,  and  playing  themselves,  by  a  run  of  ill  luck,  into  a  state  of  per* 
petoal  alavery.  When  we  estimate  the  love  of  a  savage  for  independence,  we  can 
arrive  at  some  measurement  of  the  degree  of  the  passion  which  cxacta  its  sacrifice. 
Upon  the  whole,  these  Indians  are  of  vast  benefit  to  the  whites  of  this  region.  Ia 
the  present  condition  of  (he  settlements,  we  should  lose  much  by  their  absence. 

F1SHKRIK8. — The  fisheries  of  this  country  are  very  great,  and  foremost  among  all 
the  varietiea  which  they  produce,  is  the  unrivalled  salmon.  It  would  be  imfiossible 
to  estimate  the  numbers  of  this  excellent  fish  annually  taken  in  the  Columbia  and  its 
tributaries ;  but  they  have  been  aet  down  at  ten  thousand  barrels  a  year,  which 
number  I  do  not  think  by  any  meana  too  large.  The  salmon  in  this  country  are 
never  caught  with  a  hooK.  They  are  sometimes  taken  by  the  Indiana  with  a  email 
acoop  net,  but  generally  are  caught  with  a  sort  of  spear  of  a  veiy  peculiar  descrip- 
tion. These  are  made  by  the  nativea  after  the  following  fashion.  They  take  a 
pole,  made  of  aah,  or  of  some  hard  wood,  about  ten  feet  long  and  one  inch  thick, 
and  gradually  tapering  to  a  point  at  one  end.  They  then  cut  a  piece,  about  four 
inches  long,  from  the  sharp  prong  of  a  buck's  horn,  and  hollow  out  the  large  end  ao 
that  it  fits  the  pole.  About  the  middle  of  the  buck  horn,  they  make  a  small  hole 
through  which  they  put  a  cord,  or  leather  atring,  that  runa  along  the  pole  and  fas- 
teas  to  it  about  two  feet  from  the  lower  end.  When  they  spear  a  fish  with  this 
weapon,  the  pole  is  withdrawn  and  the  buck  horn  barb  ia  left  imbedded  in  the  ani- 
mal's body,  or  having  run  through  and  through  it,  remaina  faatened  on  the  other  side. 
Escape  is  thus  rendered  impossible,  and  the  prey  unable  to  elude  t^^^  prong,  is  se- 
curely drawn  in  by  the  string.  All  the  salmon  caught  here  are  tt.:.en  by  the  In- 
dians, and  sold  to  the  whites  at  about  ten  cents  each,  and  frequently  for  leaa.  One 
Indian  will  take  about  twenty  upon  an  average  per  day. 


m 


/I 


108 


HISTORY   or  OREGON. 


?{»" 


Thn  Ralmon  takon  at  different  pointa,  diflfer  greatly  in  kind  and  quality,  and  it  ia 
only  at  particular  pincfa  that  they  can  be  taken.  The  fattcat  and  beat  are  thoac 
taken  at  the  mouth  or  the  Columbia,  and  the  next  heat  are  thuie  taken  in  the 
Columbia,  a  few  milra  below  Vancouver,  at  the  Caicadea,  and  at  the  Dallea. 
Those  taken  at  the  Willamette  falla,  are  amaller  in  aize,  and  inferior  in  flavor,  and 
•re  aaid  to  be  of  a  different  kind.  What  ia  ainKular,  thia  fish  cannot  be  taken  in 
any  considerable  numbera  with  largo  aeinea,  and  this  ia  only  to  be  accounted  for,  by 
their  remarkable  shyncas,  and  their  auperior  activity.  I  believe  no  white  man  haa 
yet  succeeded  in  taking  them  with  the  gig.  They  make  their  appearance  in  the 
vicinity  of  Vancouver,  tirat  in  the  Klackamus  river,  and  the  boat  quality  are  taken  in 
June. 

There  are  aeveral  other  kinda  of  flah  in  th»  bays,  rivers,  and  creeka  of  the 
territory,  of  which  a  apeciea  of  cod  and  the  sturgeon  are  the  most  important.  The 
latter  are  a  large  fish,  and  afford  great  sport  in  a  leisure  hour  to  take  them  with  a 
book  and  line.  They  arc  taken  in  the  Willamette,  below  the  falls;  in  the  Colum- 
bia,  at  all  pointa,  and  in  the  Snake  or  Saptin  river,  as  high  up  ns  Fort  Bois£.  Of 
shell-fish,  we  have  the  crab,  clams,  muscles,  and  a  small  description  of  oyster. 

Game.-^The  wild  animals  of  this,  the  first  section  of  Oregon,  are  the  black  bear, 
black-tailed  deer,  raccoon,  panther,  polecat,  rabbit,  wolf,  beaver,  and  a  few  othera. 
Of  these,  the  deer  and  the  wolves  are  the  moat  aumeroua.  We  have  no  buffaloea, 
antelopes,  or  prairie  chickena  here,  but  in  the  second  aection  the  latter  apeciea 
of  feathered  game  are  plenty. 

Of  fancy  birds,  we  have  blue  jay,  larger,  and  of  a  deeper  blue  than  thoaa 
of  the  States ;  the  nut-brown  wren,  a  moat  beautiful  and  gentle  little  atom,  acarcely 
larger  than  the  humming-bird  ;  also  a  apeciea  of  bird,  which  resembles  the  robin  in 
form,  color,  and  aize ;  and  also  a  apeciea  of  nightingale,  that  sings  the  livelong 
night ;  but  though  I  havo  heard  these  evening  songsters,  time  and  again,  I  have 
never  yet  managed  to  get  sight  of  one.  The  bald  eagle,  so  well  described  by 
Wilson,  ia  found  along  all  the  rivera ;  but  here,  he  ia  obliged  to  compromise  a 

Eortion  of  his  lordly  character  to  hia  necessitiea,  and  to  work  for  his  own  living, 
aving  no  fish-hawks  to  catch  his  game  for  him.  He  feeds  principally  upon  the 
dead  salmon  he  gleana  from  the  aurface  of  the  water,  as  they  float  downward  in  the 
atream,  and  changes  hia  diet  by  an  occasional  awoop  upon  some  unlucky  duck, 
which  ho  catches  either  while  on  the  wing,  or  while  feeding  in  the  river.  If  the 
duck  when  pursued  in  the  air,  can  reach  the  surface  of  the  water,  he  doea  so  with 
the  utmost  speed  of  wing,  and  seeks  a  momentary  refuge  by  diving  under  it.  The 
eagle,  balancing  himself  over  the  spot  of  hia  victim'a  diaappearance,  waita  until  he 
rises,  and  then  strikes  at  him  again  and  again,  until  the  latter's  strength  becomes 
wasted  with  the  unusual  effort,  and  giving  out  at  length,  the  relentless  conqueror 
hears  him  off  aa  he  rises  languidly  and  for  the  last  time  to  the  surface  of  the  water. 
We  have  also  pheasants  in  abundance,  likewise  partridges,  grouse,  brant,  pelicana, 
plovers,  wild  geese,  thrush,  gulls,  cranes,  swans,  and  ravens,  crows  and  vnlturea. 
For  a  sportsman,  this  region  is  a  paradise,  and  a  dog  and  a  gun  will  afford  him  a 
chapter  of  elysium  every  day  of  h<s  life. 

There  ia  one  peculiarly  attractive  luature,  which  thia  country  possesses  over  most 
others,  and  that  is,  that  like  Old  IrelanJ  itself,  it  haa  no  poisonous  reptiles  or 
insects,  and  better  than  Ireland,  we  are  not  burdened  with  obligationa  to  any 
saint  for  the  saintly  office  of  extirpating  them.  The  only  snake  we  have,  ia  the 
harmless  garter-snake,  and  there  are  no  flies  to  annoy  the  cattle. 

Timber. — The  timber  of  this  section  of  Oregon,  constitutes  the  main  source  of  ita 
wealth.  It  is  found  in  isezhaustible  quantities  on  the  Columbia,  and  on  the  Willa- 
mette, just  where  the  water  power  ia  at  hand  to  cut  it  up,  and  where  ships  can 
easily  take  it  on  board.  The  principal  timber  of  thia  section  is  the  fir,  the  white 
cedar,  white  oak  and  black  ash.  There  are  three  kinds  of  fir ;  the  white,  yellow, 
and  red ;  all  of  them  fine  for  plank,  shingles,  boards  and  rails. 

The  white  fir  makes  the  best  shingles.  The  fir  is  a  species  of  pine,  which  grows 
very  tall  and  straight,  and  stands  very  thick  upon  the  ground.  Thick  as  they 
stand,  however,  when  you  cut  one,  it  never  lodges  in  ita  mX,  for  the  reason  that  it 
never  forks,  and  the  limbs  of  the  others  are  too  small  to  stop  the  descent  of  its 
enormous  bulk.  In  the  Cascade  mountains,  and  near  the  mouth  ot  the  Columbia 
river,  they  rise  to  the  height  of  three  hundred  feet.  They  split  exceedingly  well, 
and  miike  the  finest  boards  of  any  timber  I  have  ever  seen.  I  cut  one  tree,  front 
which  I  sawed  twenty-four  cuts  of  three  foot  boards,  and  there  are  plenty  of  such 
specimens  all  around  me,  yet  untouched. 

The  white  cedar  is  very  fine  timber,  and  is  nearly  if  not  quite  equal  to  the  red 


\ 


HISTORY  or  OREGON. 


100 


eadtr  of  the  SUIm.  In  the  vicinity  of  Linntan,  il  growi  to  the  tixe  of  Ihrre  feet 
in  diameter,  niid  ia  tall  enough  to  make  lix  rail  cuts  to  the  tree.  I  have  cut  two 
ware-houae  logi,  thirty  feet  long,  oflT  one  tree,  nod  three  of  the  aame  loga  otf  a  red 
fir,  which  waa  only  about  fourteen  inchaa  in  diameter  at  the  stump.  'I'he  cedar 
aplits  remarkably  well,  makea  fine  raili,  ihinglea,  or  houie-loga,  and  latta  a 
lifetime. 

The  white  oak  timber  ia  better  for  wagon-making  than  any  apecimena  to  be 
found  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  it  ia  the  best  wood  that  can  be  had  for  axe> 
handlea,  and  for  similar  purposes.  It  grows  about  aa  tall  as  in  the  Siatea.  The 
black  oak,  which  also  grows  profusely  in  our  foroats,  makes  excellent  fire-wood,  and 
answers  likewise  for  many 'other  purposes. 

In  the  range  of  mountains  back  of  Linntann,  we  have  plenty  of  the  hemlock,  the 
bark  of  which  is  fine  fur  tanning  hidea ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  ere  long,  the  skina 
that  will  be  stripped  from  our  large  herds  of  atock,  will  be  extensively  converted 
into  leather,  by  ita  agency.  We  have  also  the  dog-wood  and  cherry-maple,  sprinkled 
among  the  fira  and  cedara.  The  hazel  of  thia  country  ia  four  times  largtir  than 
that  of  the  Statea,  and  ia  also  much  tougher  in  ita  textnre  ;  it  is  extenaively  used  for 
hoops,  and  for  the  manufacture  of  a  coarse  kind  of  scrub  broom.  The  fruit  of  thia 
tree  iaof  a  lighter  color  than  the  hatel-nuta  of  the  Stales,  and  thoy  are  of  the  shape 
and  aixa  of  a  chinkapin  acorn.  Persons  coming  from  tlie  States  will  find  very  little 
timber  here  like  that  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed,  for  all  of  it  is  un  a 
grander  s:ale.  The  black  ash  and  dog-wood  are  very  similar  to  those  of  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky,  and  the  white  oak  is  perhaps  but  little  diiTeront  from  any  eaatward 
of  the  mountains.  But  we  have  no  walnut,  hickory,  percimmon,  pawpaw,  locust, 
coffee-nut,  cheatnut,  sugar-tree,  box-elder,  poplar,  sycamore,  or  elm. 

Water  Power, — The  water  power  of  this  country  is  unequalled,  and  ia  found  dis- 
tributed through  every  section.  That  at  the  falls  of  the  Willamette  cannot  be  aur- 
paaaed  in  the  world.  Any  quantity  of  machinery  can  be  put  in  motion  there  ;  but 
the  good  water  power  is  not  confined  to  the  Willamette  falls,  for  in  many  placea  on 
the  Columbia,  the  Willamette,  and  the  other  rivers,  there  are  mill  aitea  as  good, 
though  none  of  them  are  quite  ao  large.  These  advantages  for  converting  the  tim- 
ber which  surrounds  them,  into  a  marketable  commodity  of  great  value  in  the 
neighbouring  ocean,  will  ere  long  be  appreciated  to  a  far  greater  extent  by  even  thia 
region,  than  at  preaent. 

ilfountatn*. — We  have  the  most  beautiful  scenery  of  North  America — we  lie 
upon  the  largest  ocean,  we  have  the  purest  and  most  beautiful  streams,*  the  loftiest 
and  moat  majestic  treea,  and  the  most  stupendoua  mountains  of  the  continent.  The 
latter,  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  mention  before,  are  divided  into  three  great  rangea, 
but  aa  tho  description  of  the  featurea  of  the  lower  region  is  at  present  my  especial 
object,  I  will  pass  over  the  Rocky  mountains  and  the  Blue,  and  confine  myself  to  the 
President's  range  which  forma  the  eaatern  wall  of  our  valley.     The  several  peaka 
of  thia  range  are  grand  and  imposing  objects.    From  Vancouver  you  have  a  full  and 
fair  view  of  Mount  Hood,  to  the  south,  which  ia  called  by  some  the  tallest  peak  of 
the  Cascadea,  and  rises  more  than  aixteen  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  ten  thouaand  above  the  mountaina  immediately  around  it.     Thia  lofty  pile  riaea 
by  itself  in  a  regular  and  perfect  cone,  and  ia  covered  with  perpetual  anew.     It 
ia  the  only  peak  you  can  see  from  Vancouver,  as  the  view  in  other  directions  ia  ob- 
scured by  tall  fir  timber.     At  the  mouth  of  the  Willamette,  aa  yNi  enter  the  Co- 
lumbia, you  have  a  full  view  of  Mount  St.  Helena  or  Mount  Washington,  and  alao 
of  Mount  Hood.    From  Linntan  you  have  a  very  fair  view  of  the  former  mountain, 
which  ia  almoat  fifly  miles  distant  from  this  point,  though  it  looks  as  if  it  were  al- 
most within  reach.    This  peak  is  very  smooth  and  perfectly  conical  in  ita  form.    It 
ia  nearly  aa  tall  as  Mount  Hood,  and  ia  the  moat  beautiful  of  the  range.     It  lies  im- 
mediately on  a  line  with  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and  ia  a  land-mark  visible 
aeveral  miles  at  sea  and  useful  in  directing  vessels  to  ita  harbor.     Like  Mount  Hood 
it  atanda  alone  in  ita  solitary  grandeur  far  above  all  surrounding  objecta  and  awing 
them  into  inaignificance.    This  mountain,  which  until  last  year,  towered  aerenely  in 
the  air  covered  with  ten  thousand  perpendicular  feet  of  snow,  suddenly  burst  into  a 
burning  volcano,  in  which  atate  it  now  remains.     The  crater  is  in  ita  aide  about 
two-thirda  of  ita  distance  from  ita  base,  and  by  the  account  of  the  Indian  inhabitant! 
in  its  vicinity,  it  emitted  a  flood  of  lava  at  the  time  of  its  eruption,  which  poured  ita 
stream  of  fire  through  the  whole  depth  of  the  virgita  abeet  that  wrapped  ita  aides.  A 

*  We  protest  against  this  claim  for  their  rivers,  for  it  is  at  variance  with  the  writer's  own 
description  of  the  whole  line  of  streams  which  he  traversed  from  the  Rocky  mountains  to  the 
ocean. 


..;i"' .  Mi 


110 


HltTORY   or  ORBOON. 


;..» 


In 


Hvage  who  had  been  hunting  dtter  lome  diaUnoe  up  the  mountain,  Andin^  bit  re* 
lurn  to  hie  wigwam  thua  cut  otf,  tuuk  •  run  and  attamptad  to  jump  acroaa  it,  but  not 
being  able  to  oitfar  ita  breadth,  ha  fell  with  one  fool  in  the  glowing  torrent,  and  waa 
ao  aeverely  burnt,  that  he  came  very  nearly  being  lamed  for  life.  He  haatened  to 
Vancouver,  however,  and  by  the  aaaiatance  of  Dr.  Barclay  nt  the  Fort,  waa  gradu* 
ally  cured. 

Thia  mountain  ia  aecond  in  hei|fht  to  but  one  in  the  world,  (Cotopaxi  in  South 
America,)and  like  other  volcanoea  it  burna  at  intervala.  On  one  aide  of  it  near  ita  top,  ia 
diacovered  a  large  dark  object  amid  the  aurroundin^i  anew,  which  ia  auppoaed  to  ba 
the  mouth  of  a  huge  cavern,  and  doubtloaa  ia  the  ancient  crater  of  aoine  expired  iaaue. 
On  the  16ih  February  1844,  the  mountain  burned  moat  magnificently.  Denaemaaaea 
of  amoka  roae  up  in  immenae  columna  and  wreathed  the  whole  creat  of  the  peak 
inaombre  and  ma«aive  clouda  ;  and  in  the  evening  ita  fire  lit  up  the  flaky  mountain* 
aide  with  a  flood  of  aoft  yet  brilliant  radiance.  Tlie  range,  of  which  thia  ia  the  moat 
dialinguiahing  feature,  runa  throughout  the  whole  length  of  the  territory  and  i«  re* 
markable  for  ita  aeperate  and  independent  conea. 

Commeretoi,  Agricultural  and  Manufacturing  advantages. — The  commercial  ad* 
vantagea  of  thia  country  are  very  great.  Ttie  trade  with  the  Sandwich  lalanda  ia 
daily  increaaing,  and  aurroundad  aa  we  are  with  a  half  civilised  race  of  men,  our 
manufacturing  power  will  aoon  have  a  home  market  for  itaelf ;  beeidea.  South  Ameri* 
ca,  California  and  the  Sandwich  lalanda,  muat  depend  upon  ua  for  their  lumber. 
Already  large  quantitiea  of  ahinglea  and  plank  are  aent  to  the  latter  market,  and 
we  ahall  alao  have  a  full  demand  for  all  our  other  aurplua  productiona  at  the  aama 
port,  for  moat  veaaela  viiiting  the  north  Pacific,  touch  at  theae  iaiaida  for  the  pur* 
poae  of  obtaining  auppliea  of  freah  proviaiona.  The  Ruaaian  aettlementa  are  already 
dependent  upon  ua,  and  even  the  marketa  of  China  are  within  our  reach.  For  the 
aupply  of  the  regiona  of  the  Pacific,  and  the  more  northern  aettlementa  of  the  coaat, 
there  can  be  no  competition  with  ua  in  the  way  of  proviaiona,  aa  we  have  no  neigh* 
bora  in  the  producing  lino. 

I  conaider  Oregon,  in  many  reapecta,  auperior  to  California,  aa  in  the  latter 
country,  the  climate  ia  ao  warm  that  pork  ana  beef  cannot  be  put  up,  and  conae* 
quenily  the  graier  loaea  half  hia  proiita ;  beaidea,  its  enervating  temperature  like 
that  of  all  warm  countriea,  haa  a  degenerating  eflfect  upon  the  enterpriae  of  the  in* 
babitanta.  For  a  commercial  and  manufacturing  people,  the  climate  of  Oregon  ia 
warm  enonsh.  We  can  here  preaerve  our  pork  and  beef  without  danger  of  it*  taint- 
ing before  tne  completion  of  the  packing  ;  and  we  have  finer  timber,  better  water 
power,  and  are  not  aubject  to  the  ruinoua  droughta  of  California. 

Since  our  arrival,  the  proapecta  of  the  country  have  very  much  improved.  Buai* 
neaa  of  all  kinda  ia  active  and  timea  are  flouriahing.  We  live  in  a  atate  of  primitivo 
aimplicity  and  independence  ;  we  are  the  victima  of  no  vicea  ;  there  ia  no  drinking 
or  gambling  among  ua,  and  Labor  meets  with  auch  ample  inducemente  and  ready 
rewards,  that  laiy  men  are  made  induatrioua  by  the  mere  force  of  the  influencea 
around  them. 

Farming  is  considered  the  beat  boainess  of  thia  country.  The  buaineaa  of  making 
and  putting  up  butter,  which  ia  never  worth  leas  than  twenty  cents  per  pound,  ia 
Tery  profitable.  A  good  freah  article  is,  I  am  told,  never  worth  less  than  fifty  cents 
and  often  brings  one  dollar  per  pound  in  the  Pacific  islands.  There  are  -now  in 
operation,  or  will  be  thia  summer,  milla  enough  to  aupply  the  whole  population  with 
flour.  There  ia  no  acarcity  of  proviaiona  at  the  pricea  I  have  previoualy  stated,  and 
I  find  that  the  emigrants  who  came  out  last  year,  live  very  comfortably,  are  per- 
fectly content  with  their  change,  and  are  much  improved  in  their  appearance  since 
the  time  of  their  arrival. 

We  have  the  finest  spar  timber,  perhaps,  in  the  world,  and  vessels  arriving  at  the 
Columbia  often  take  off  a  quantity  for  that  purpose.  The  saw  mills  at  the  Willa- 
mette Falla  cut  large  quantities  of  plank  which  they  sell  at  two  dollars  per  hundred. 
In  speaking  Of  the  fir  before,  I  omitted  stating  that  it  made  excellent  coal  for  black- 
smith's purposes  ;  and  I  will  farther  remark  that  it  is  singular  that  neither  the  fir  nor 
the  cedar,  when  burned,  makea  any  ashes.  It  has  been  supposed  that  the  timbered 
land  of  this  country  will  be  hard  to  clear  up,  but  I  have  come  to  a  difTorent  conclu- 
aion  from  the  fact  that  the  fir  timber  haa  very  little  top,  is  easily  kindled,  and  bums 
readily.  It  also  becomes  seasoned  very  soon,  and  it  is  the  opinion  of  good  farmers 
that  the  timbered  land  will  make  the  beat  wheat-fields  of  the  country.' 

When  an  individual  has  any  idle  time,  he  can  employ  himaelf  in  making  fir  and 
cedar  ahinglea,  for  the  first  of  which  he  can  get  four  dollaia  a  thousand,  and  for  the 
aecond,  five  ;  any  quantity  of  them  can  be  disposed  of  at  theae  rates.    Carpenters 


MI8T0RY  or  ORKUON. 


ni 


■nd  other  meehanici  ebtitin  thr««  doKars  p«r  day  and  found.  Th«r«  it  •mploymont 
in  ■bun<lnnca  for  every  one  deairing  ii,  and  it  it  only  neceeiery  for  a  man  to  bo  in- 
duitrioui  lo  aecompliah  aura  euccei*  and  auiiwund  himaelf  wilK  all  Iho  eomforta  of 
an  earthly  paradiao. 


irs 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Concluding  rtnutrka—Direetiont  lo  Emigranti—Lint  of  route  and  tMt  of  iiit*n- 

CtM,  At, 

Havino  now  completed  an  accoont  of  all  the  material  pointa  of  our  eipediiion 
into  Oregon,  and  furniahed  the  inquirer  a  general  idea  of  ita  character  and  capabili- 
tiea,  the  only  thing  ^hat  remain*  for  me  to  do  in  the  limita  of  thia  aketch,  ia  to 
add  a  few  more  directiona  for  the  emigrant,  for  whoae  particular  benefit,  aa  I  aaid, 
before,  theae  imperfect  notea  are  furniahed.  I  have  ahown,  indeed  the  reault  of  our 
general  expedition  proved,  that  the  route  from  the  Rendeivoua  in  Miaaouri,  to  thio 
point,  ia  practicable  for  any  deacription  of  conveyance,  and  the  auoceaa  of  our  caltl* 
m  coming  through,  adda  an  aaaurance  that  it  ia  remarkable  aa  well,  for  ite  extraor- 
dinary emigrating  facilitiea.  If  thia  needa  any  corroboration,  a  world  of  evidence  can 
b«  furniahed  to  auatain  it,  aa  well  aa  every  fact  I  have  advanced  ;  but  in  aupport  of 
the  peculiar  feaaibility  of  the  route  acroaa  the  Indian  territoriea  of  the  Statea  and 
along  the  line  of  the  Platte,  I  will  merely  refer  the  reader  to  the  fact,  tliat  Mr.  Aah- 
ley,  m  an  expedition  in  1836,  drew  a  field  piece,  (a  aix  pounder)  from  Miaaouri,  aoroae 
the  prairiea,  through  the  aouthern  pata,  to  a  fort  on  Utah  lake  (to  the  aouth  of  our 
aoutnern  boundary  line,)  the  whole  journey  being  a  diatance  of  1300  milea ;  and  to 
the  additional  fact  that  in  1838,  a  large  number  of  heavily  laden  wagona  performed 
the  aame  journey  with  eaae  and  without  an  accident,  aa  will  bo  eeen  by  a  reference 
to  Conareaaional  documenta  on  file. 

It  will  be  remarked  that  I  have  alnrred  over  portiona  of  tho  route  and  neglected 
the  regular  incidenta  of  much  of  our  dnily  travel,  but  when  it  ia  remembered  that 
the  journey  laated  aix  montha,  and  that  the  eventa  of  m»ny  aucceaaive  daya  acarceiy 
varied  from  each  other,  the  reader  will  come  to  the  concluaion  that  it  would  hav* 
been  hardly  wiae  in  me  to  have  taxed  hie  patience  with  each  day'a  dull  routine.  The 
great  object,  I  conaidered  to  be,  the  furniahing  the  courae  of  the  route,  a  view  of  ite 
general  aspect  and  difficulties,  the  diatancea  between  pointa  of  travel,  (the  muin  ob* 
jact  of  the  present  chapter)  and  to  impart  an  accurate  notion  of  the  region  which 
the  aettler  must  make  his  future  home.  I  have  therefore  avoided  everything  that 
did  not  contribute  to  this  design,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  trifling  moident*  of 
humor  inseparable  from  such  an  expedition,  which  I  introduced  to  enliven  the  mono- 
tony of  the  narrative,  and  which,  moreover,  I  considered  useful,  aa  affording  an  idea 
of  camp  life,  and  the  amusements  of  a  journey  over  the  prairiea. 

Emigranta  should  start  aa  early  aa  possible  in  ordinary  aeaaons.  The  firat  of 
May  Hnould  bo  aet  down  if  poasible  as  the  outside  limit,  and  even  aa  early  aa  the 
firat  of  April,  would  do.  For  those  coming  from  the  Platte  country,  it  is  thought 
to  be  moat  advisable  tocroaa  the  Missouri  at  MePherson'a  ferry  in  Holt  county,  and 
to  take  up  the  ridge  between  the  Platte  and  the  Kanzaa  rivers. 

Companies  of  iorty  or  fifty  wagona  are  large  enough,  and  I  would  adviae  bodiee 
of  traveliera  for  thia  region  to  keep  within  that  measure.  Large  bodiea  prove  un- 
wieldly  to  arrai>ge  and  to  control ;  the  numerooa  atock  attached  to  them  become 
troublesome,  and  moreover  large  bodiea  of  Americana  are  proae  to  differ  in  opinion. 
Small  collections  offer  but  few  inducements  to  a  diaordered  ambition,  but  largo  onea 
are  conducive  of  selfish  strife  and  discord.  This  has  been  seen  to  have  been  the 
caaewilh  our  expedition ;  which  divided  after  croaaing  the  Kaniaa  ;  and  which  waa 
further  subdivided  afterwarda,  on  the  other  aide  of  the  mountain*.  I  did  not  par- 
ticularize this  latter  circumatance  becauae  I  considered  it  of  minor  importance 
at  the  time,  and  it  is  now  suflicient  for  my  purpose  to  mention  it  here,  aa  a  cautioo 
against  the  error  which  induced  it,  in  the  future. 

In  driving  stock  to  this  country,  about  one  in  ten  is  lost ;  not  more.  Having 
atarted,  the  best  way  to  proceed  to  save  your  teama,  ia  to  drive  a  reaaonable  diatance 
every  day,  and  to  atop  and  go  into  camp  about  an  hour  before  aundown.  Thia  givea 
time  for  all  the  necessary  arrangementa  of  the  encampment  and  afforda  the  teams 
an  opportunity  to  rest  and  eat  before  the  night  seta  in.  About  eight  houra  drive  in 
the  long  daya— reeling  an  hour  at  noon— ia,  I  think  enough  for  one  day's  travel,  and 


I' 


t 


112 


HISTORT  or  OREGON. 


a 


ii 


you  should  make  it  a  rula  never  to  drive  irregularly  if  you  can  help  it.  Along  the 
whole  line  of  the  Platte,  on  the  Bear  and  Bois^  rivers,  and  in  many  other  places, 
you  can  encamp  at  any  point  you  please ;  but  at  some  points  of  the  route  you  will 
be  compelled  to  drive  hard  to  get  water  and  range  for  your  cattle. 

When  you  reach  the  country  of  the  buffalo,  never  stop  your  wagons  to  hunt,  as 
you  will  consume  more  provisions  during  the  delay  than  you  will  save  by  the  amount 
of  your  game ;  for  it  is  generally  consumed  at  once  from  the  difficulty  of  curing  it, 
in  consequence  of  the  warmth  of  the  weather.  Let  your  horsemen  and  scouts  per- 
form this  duty,  and  supply  this  want  for  you  ;  and  if  (hey  use  proper  exertions,  they 
can  keep  you  all  in  fresh  meat  throughout  the  whole  of  the  country  of  game.  Any 
one  wishing  the  amusement  of  this  sport,  should  bring  along  an  extra  horse,  and  not 
use  him  until  he  reaches  the  buffalo  region,  as  the  hunting  of  this  animal  is  rough 
work,  and  emigrants  must  needs  be  very  careful  they  do  not  break  iheir  horses  down. 
A  prudent  care  should  be  taken  of  horses,  teams,  and  provisions  from  the  start,  and 
no  extra  exertion  should  be  required  from  the  two  first,  and  nothing  of  the  last  should 
be  thrown  away  that  can  be  eaten. 

If  a  prudent  course  is  taken,  the  trip  can  be  made  in  ordinary  seasons,  in  four 
months.  It  is  true  it  took  us  longer,  but  we  lost  a  great  deal  of  time  upon  the  road, 
and  besides,  we  had  the  way  to  break.  I  have  reason  to  believe,  that  other  and 
better  routes  than  the  one  travelled  by  us  can  bo  found.  Captain  Gant,  our  pilot, 
was  decidedly  of  the  opinion,  that  to  keep  up  the  south  fork  of  the  Platte,  and  to 
cross  it  just  above  the  stream  called  the  Kooshlapood,  and  thence[up  the  latter  stream, 

Etassing  between  the  Black  Hills  on  your  right,  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  your 
eft,  and  striking  by  this  course  at  last  the  ordinary  route  by  Green  river,  would  be  a 
better  and  nearer  way  into  Oregon,  and  more  plentifully  supplied  with  game  than  the 
one  we  took.  He  had  travelled  both,  and  only  brought  us  through  the  road  he  did, 
to  avoid  the  large  bands  of  Sioux  and  Black  feet  Indians,  whom  he  hikd  been  informed 
Tvere  hunting  upon  the  southern  route. 

The  following  table  of  distances,  it  is  proper  for  me  to  say,  is  a  rough  calculation 
made  up  from  an  estimate  of  our  daily  travel.  It  consequently  does  not  claim  the 
accuracy  of  a  geometrical  admeasurement,  but  it  is  thought  by  those  to  whom  I  have 
submitted  it,  to  be  not  far  out  of  the  way.  .......  ,,.... 


'\ 


A  TABLB  or  DISTANCBS  FROM  INDEPENDENCE,  HI8S0DRI,  TO  THE  TNTBRMBDIATE  POINTS 
BETWEEN  THAT  TOWN  AND  ASTORIA  AT  THE  MOOTH  OF  THE  COLUMBIA  RIVER. 


Miles. 
From  Independence  to  the  Rendecvous,  •  30 
RendozTOUs  to  Elm  Orove  -  -  -  15 
From  Elm  Orove  to  Walpalusia,  -  •  33 
Walpalusia  to  KanzaiTiver,  •  •  -  31 
Kanzas  River  to  Big  Sandy  creek,  -  ■  31 
Big  Sandy  to  Hurricane  Branch,  •  •  13 
Hurricane  Branch  to  East  lork  of 

Blue  River, 30 

East  fork  to  We8t  fork  of  Blue  River,       ■    IS 
West  fork  to  where  we  came  in  light  of  the 

Republican  fork  of  the  Blue  lUver,    •    41 
Up  Republican  fork  of  the  Blue  River  to  1 
where  we  left  it  to  cross  over  to  the  >     60 
Big  FlaUe  River,       .       .       .        ) 
Up  the  Platte  to  where  we  saw  the  first  herd 

ofbuftalo,   ..•-.. 
Up  the  same  to  the  crossing  on  the  South 

fork  of  same 

South  fork  to  crossing  on  North  Fork  of 

same, 

Crossing  of  North  Fork  to  Cedar  Orove,  • 
Cedar  Orove  to  Solitary  Tower, 
Solitary  Tower  to  Chimney  Rock,    - 
Chimney  Tower  to  Scott's  Blufl's,     • 
Scott's  Blaffs  to  Fort  Larimie,  • 
Fort  Larimie  to  Big  Spring  at  foot  of  Black 

Hills, 

Big  Spring  to  Keryan  on  North  fork  of 

Platte,    

Keryan  to  crossing  of  North  Fork,    • 
Crossing  of  North  Fork  to  Sweetwater 

River, 

Up  Sweetwater  River  to  where  we  first  f 
saw  the  eternal  snows  of  the  Rocky  > 
Mountains,  .       .       .       .      ) 

From  the  above  point  to  main  dividing 
ridge  of  Rocky  Mountains,  • 


66 

117 

31 
It 
18 
18 
30 


40 


Miles. 
From  dividing  ridge  to  Little  Sandy  River,  16 
Little  Sandy  to  Big  Sandy,  -  -  -  14 
Big  Sandy  to  Oreen  River,         •        ■        -30 

Down  same, 13 

To  Black's  fork  of  Orcen  River,  -  ■  33 
From  Black's  fork  to  Fort  Bridger,  ■  •  SO 
Fort  Bridger  to  Big  Muddy  River  -  •  39 
Big  Muddy  to  Bear  River,  -  -       •    87 

Down  Bear  Riverto  range  of  hills  mentioned 

as  running  up  to  its  oank,  -       •    67 

Down  Bear  Riverto  Oreat  Soda  Spring,'  •  38 
From  Soda  Spring  to  the  Fortneuf  River, 

the  first  water  of  the  Columbia,  -  •  35 
To  Fort  Hall  in  the  Snake  or  Saptin  River,  68 
From  Fort  Hall  to  the  Fortneuf  again,  •  11 
Fortneuf  to  Rock  Creek,  -  ...  87 
Rock  Creek  to  Salmon  Falls  on  the  Saptin,  •  43 
Salmon  Fall!*  to  crossing  on  the  Saptlii,  -  37 
From  crossing  of  Saptin  to  Boiling  Spring  19 
Boiling  Spring  to  Boise  River,  -  -  '48 
Down  same  to  Fort  Boise  on  Saptin,  •  •  40 
Fort  Boise  to  Burnt  River,         ■       •       -41 

Up  Burnt  River  for, 36 

From  last  point  to  Powder  River  at  "  the 

Lone  Pine," 18 

From  "  the  Lone  Pine  "  to  Grand  Round, .  16 
Orand  Round  to  the  Umatilla  River  on  the 

west  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  .  •  43 
Umatilla  to  Dr  Whitman's  Mission,  •  *  39 
Mission  to  Fort  Wallawalla,  •  .  35 
Wallawalla  to  the  Dalles  Mission,  -  •  130 
Dalles  to  Vancouver,  .  .  •  .  lOO 
Vancouver  to  Astoria,  ■  ...  SO 
Astoria  to  the  ocean, 10 


Making  in  all  from  Independence  to  the 
Pacific  ocean, 


3036 


w\ 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


118 


From  Independence  to  Vancouver  by  the  above  computation  is  1946  miles  by  the 
route  we  travelled  I  am  well  satisfied  that  the  distnnce  does  not  exceed  20O0  miles 
fbr  the  reason  that  our  ox  teams  could  not  have  accomplished  a  greater  distance 
within  the  time  of  their  actual  employment. 

The  trip  to  Oregon  is  neither  a  costly  nor  an  expensive  one,  and  an  individual  can 
travel  here  at  as  small  an  expense,  as  he  can  move  from  Tennessee  or  Kentucky, 
to  Missouri.  All  the  property  he  starts  with  he  can  tiring  through,  and  it  is  worth, 
upon  his  arrival,  more  than  when  he  set  out. 

To  conclude,  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  where  the  wants  of  man  can  bo  so 
readily  supplied,  and  upon  such  easy  terms  as  in  this ;  and  none  where  the  beauties 
of  nature  are  displayed  upon  a  grander  scale. 

The  chief  value  of  this  country,  I  must  remark  in  closing,  lies  in  the  advantages 
it  offers  to  the  Unvtei  States  for  a  direct  route  to  the  East  Indies  and  the  ports  of 
the  Pacific  ocean.  Already  these  have  been  embraced  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  settlers, 
and  even  now,  the  products  of  this  region  have  grown  to  an  importance  that  would 
make  them  sadly  missbd  by  several  of  the  island  markets  and  settlements  upon  the 
western  coasts  which  they  have  of  late  supplied.  Every  day  adds  to  their  amount 
and  their  demand,  and  an  ordinary  sagacity  may  see  in  this  fact,  the  promise  of  our 
future  importance  in  the  commercial  world.  There  are  many  considerations  in' 
volved  in  the  first  steps  of  our  advance  which  it  would  please  me  to  allude  to  in 
detail,  but  they  are  not  embraced  within  the  scope  of  my  present  purpose,  and  I  leave 

them  to  the  treatment  of  abler  political  economists. 

**  *  *  ♦  »  *  ♦  *•#• 

The  more  extended  political  organization  of  which  I  before  spoke,  is  about  to  take 
place,  and  I  was  waited  upon  two  or  three  days  ago  by  a  party  from  the  Fails,  to 
consult  upon  a  plan  of  a  general  territorial  government,  with  a  legislature  of  two 
houses,  and  a  Chief  Justice  for  its  first  executive  officer.  This  arrangement  will 
embrace  all  the  settlements  of  the  valley  into  one  common  government,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  which  will  convene  in  general  congress,  at  stated  periods,  at  Multono- 
mah  or  Oregon  city,  and  there  transact  all  the  necessary  business  for  our  little 
body  politic.  When  this  plan  is  adopted,  (as  it  doubtless  will  immediately  be,)  it  will 
perhaps,  be  the  peculiar  honor  of  your  hnmble  servant,  to  sit  in  a  curule  chair  of 
the  first  Republican  Goverment  beyond  the  Rocky  mountains.  We  shall  then  bo 
able  to  make  our  own  laws,  and  likewise  to  do  our  own  voting  and  our  own  fight- 
ing. Let  not  our  bretheren  of  the  States  mistrust  our  ability  to  maintain  ourselves 
in  our  new  position !  We  have  strong  arms  and  stout  hearts ;  we  have  despised  the 
toils  of  two  thousand  miles  of  travel  to  build  our  homes  upon  the  soil,  and  we  will 
never  leave  its  face,  until  we  sink  beneath  it.* 


CONCLUDING  NOTE. 


35 
68 
11 
87 
43 
27 
19 
48 
40 
41 
36 

18 
16 

43 

39 
35 
130 
100 
SO 
10 


FALCONER'S  RECENT  WORK  ON  THE  OREGON  QUESTION. 

The  author  cannot  say  his  last  word  without  allusion  to  a  British  re-;»ublication 
which  appeared  when  the  foregoing  pages  wei'e  in  press.  It  is  entitled ,  "  Thk 
Oregon  Question  ;  or  a  Statement  of  the  British  Claims,  in  opposition  to 
THE  Pretensions  of  the  United  States,  by  Thomas  Falconer,  Barrister 
AT  Law,  op  Lincoln's  Inn." 

It  is  unnecessary  to  our  purpose  to  travel  after  the  writer  though  all  his  tortuous 
sophistries,  as  thoy  are  fully  answered  by  the  plain  statements  of  \he  previous  por- 
tions of  this  work;  but,  as  Mr.  Falconer  is  a  special  advocateof  international  law, 
end  advances  some  rather  novel  and  interesting  positions,  it  m»y  not  be  amiss  to 
glance  at  the  main  points  of  his  performance.  The  '.earned  barrister  somewhat  in- 
geniously commences  by  adjudging  us  the  French  Title  as  the  foundation  of  our 
claims,  and  having  given  it  this  position  as  his  least  formidable  obstacle,  pelts  away 
at  it  with  evident  satisfaction.  He  is  welcome  to  his  pains,  for  if  he  succeeds  in 
destroying  it  altogether,  it  will  not  affect  our  claims  a  jot.     He  next  insists  upon  the 

■  »  Recent  accouts  from  the  west  inform  us  that  there  nre  now  gathered  near  Independence, 
Missouri,  about  7000  emigrants,  all  destinded  for  Oregon,  and  California.  They  ore  to  set  out 
in  convenient  detachments  about  the  1st  of  June. 

8 


114 


HISTORY   OF   OREOOIf. 


discoveries  of  Drake  with  the  utmost  pertinacity,  though  he  succeeds  but  poorly,  anJ 
can  manage  to  defend  the  varacity  of  the  freebooting  Preacher,  on  whose  romantic 
statement!)  they  depend,  no  better  than  by  nailing — what  motive  he  could  have  to  lie  1 
This  appeal,  in  the  face  of  the  fact,  that  navigators  had  for  nearly  a  hundred  years 
previous  been  struggling  for  the  renown  of  the  furlhercst  northern  advance,  is  the 
very  superlative  of  absurdity,  and  is  undeserving  of  a  grave  reply.     Mr.  Falconer 
lays  great  stress  upon  the  concessions  of  Spain  by  the  Nootka  treaty,  (a  rather 
strange  mode  by  the  way  of  fortifying  the  antagonistic  claims  of  Drake  and  Cook,) 
and  insists  that,  "  this  convention  was  an  admission  of  the  right  of  the  English  Go- 
vernment to  make  settlements."     Well,  suppose  it  was,  what  then  ?     She   did 
not  consummate  that  privilege  by  any  settlement,  as  we  have  before  shown,  previ- 
ous to  the  succeeding  war  of  n96i  which  swept  the  right  away  with  the  other  con- 
ditional agreements  and  reciprocal  privileges  dependant   upon  a  state  of  amity  ! 
Had  she,  in  the  mean  time,  made  an  actual  settlement  and  retained  it  through  the 
war,  her  proposition  that  "  the  right  to  make  settlements  was  t  cession  of  terri- 
tory," would,  m  its  application  to  this  case,  wear  a  graver  aspect.     But  throwing 
aside  the  Nootka  treaty,  and  granting  Britain  the  privilege  of  settlement  in  unoccu- 
pied wastes  as  a  natural  right,  and   stilj  she  gains  nothing  by  it,  for,  by  her  own 
rule  :  "  discovery  alone  and  an  alleged  intention  to  occupy  do  not  give  a  perfect 
title,  unless  an  actual  occupation  take  place."     This  is  an  unfortunate  quotation  of 
the  learned  barrister's,  for  we  have  seen  that  Britain's  very  first  settlement  in  any 
part  of  Oregon,  was  at  Astoria,  after  the  purchase  of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company's 
effects  in  1813;  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  United  States  reaps  the  harvest  of 
the  principle  by  a  number  of  explorations  and  settlements  extendmg  frojn    1792  to 
the  above  period.  But  these  formidable  circumstances  must  be  overcome,  and  the  gen- 
tleman of  Lincoln's  Inn  seeks  to  accomplish  bis  purpose  by  a  farther  burrowing  into 
international  law.     By  the  outlay  of  a  little  industrious  research,  he  findi>  that  this 
grand  system  accords  to  the  subjects  of  monarchial  governments  privileges  by  dis- 
covery and  settlement,'  which  it  denies  to  the  Citizens  of  a  Republic  ;  that  while 
the  former  may  be  empowered  by  their  sovereign  to  discover  countries,  to  take  pos- 
session and  establish  laws,  the  latter  cannot  receive  similar  powers  from  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  "and  without  such  authority,"  continues  he,  "  ihey  are 
mere  outcasts  and  vagabonds  upon  the  face  of  the  desert,  and  no  political  inferences 
can  be  drawn  from  their  acts.     Hence,"  concludes  the  learned  barrister,  "  the  Bri- 
tish settlement  on  the  Columbia  in  1813,  was  the  first  of  a  national  and  legal  charac- 
ter, recognizable  as  such,  by  foreign  nations."     This  is  all  very  well  as  an  ingenious 
obliquity  of  argument,  but  we  understand  the  political  distinction  between  Americans 
and  Britons  in  a  different  sense.     By  our  institutions  every  Citizen  of  the  United 
States  is  in  himself  a  sovereign,  and  possesses,  as  a  matter  of  course,  every  natural 
right  and  its  consequences,  that  monarchs  grant  by  special  act  of  grace  to  their  obe- 
dient subjects.     While  Europeans  range  in  varying  subordinate  degrees,  the  Citi- 
zens of  our  glorious  Republic  have  a  right  to  rank  with  kings. 

Satisfied  with  his  deductions,  the  learned  gentleman  finally  winds  up  with  an 
appeal  to  the  commercial  interests  which  will  be  injured  by  a  state  of  war,  and 
with  a  suggestion  that  the  whole  dispute  be  referred  to  the  arbitration  of  some 
foreign  ]iower. 

Do  we  need  more  than  this  to  prove  the  absurdity  of  international  law  as  applied 
to  us  1  Is  not  the  above  insulting  construction  of  our  institutionn,  a  sufficient  argu- 
ment to  induce  us  to  reject  at  once  the  system  it  is  based  on  with  the  contempt 
it  deserves  !  Instead  of  gravely  inquiring  what  might  have  been  the  opinion  of  this 
or  that  monaichical  writer  some  hundreds  of  years  ago,  would  it  not  be  more  dignifi- 
ed— more  just,  to  decide  for  ourselves  upon  the  merits  of  thecasci  and  according  to 
first  principles ) 


APPENDIX. 

CONTAINING  THE  DIPLOMATIC  CORRESPONDENCE— TREATIES 
AND  NEGOTIATIONS  BETWEEN  RUSSIA,  SPAIN,  GREAT  BRIT- 
AIN AND  THE  UNITED  STATES,  REFERRED  TO  IN  THE  FIRST 
PORTION  OF  THE  FOREGOING  WORK. 


(No.  1.) 

Convention  between  the  United  States  and  Russia,  signed  at  St.  Petersburg,  on  the 

lllh  of  April,  1824. 

Article  1.  It  is  agreed  that,  in  any  part  of  the  great  ocean,  commonly  called 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  South  «ea,  the  respective  citizens  or  subjects  of  the  high  coa- 
tracting  powers  shall  be  neither  disturbed  nor  restrained,  either  in  navigation  or  in 
Ashing,  or  in  the  power  of  resorting  to  the  coasts,  upon  points  which  may  not 
already  have  beeu  occupied,  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  natives ;  saving 
always  the  restrictions  and  conditions  determined  by  the  following  articles. 

Art.  2.  With  the  view  of  preventing  the  rights  of  navigation  and  of  fishing, 
exercised  upon  the  great  ocean  by  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  the  high  contracting 
powers,  from  becoming  the  pretext  for  an  illicit  trade,  it  is  agreed  that  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  shall  not  resort  to  any  point  where  there  is  a  Russian  estab- 
lishment, without  the  permission  of  the  governor  or  commander ;  and  that,  recipro- 
cally, the  subjects  of  Russia  shall  not  resort,  without  permission,  to  any  establishment 
of  tht  United  States  upon  the  north-west  coast. 

Art.  3.  It  is,  moreover,  agreed  that  hereafter  there  shall  not  be  formed  by  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  under  the  authority  of  the  said  States,  any  estab- 
lishment upon  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  nor  in  any  of  the  islands  adjacent, 
to  the  north  of  54  degrees  and  40  minutes  of  north  latitude  ;  and  that,  in  the  same 
manner,  there  shall  be  none  formed  by  Russian  subjects,  or  under  the  authority  of 
Russia,  soutA  of  the  same  parallel. 

Art.  4.  It  is,  nevertheless,  understood  that,  during  a  term  of  ten  years,  counting 
from  the  signature  of  the  present  convention,  the  ships  of  both  powers,  or  which 
belong  to  their  citizens  or  subjects,  respectively,  may  reciprocally  frequent,  without 
any  hmderance  whatever,  the  interior  seas,  gulfs,  harbors,  and  creeks,  upon  the  coast 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  article,  for  the  purpose  of  fishing  and  trading  with  the 
natives  of  the  country. 

Art.  6.  All  spirituous  liquors,  fire-arms,  other  arms,  powder,  and  munitions  of 
war  of  every  kind,  are  always  excepted  from  this  same  commerce  permitted  by  the 
preceding  article ;  and  the  two  powers  engage,  reciprocally,  neither  to  sell,  nor 
suffer  them  to  be  sold,  to  the  natives,  by  their  respective  citizens  and  subjects,  nor 
by  any  person  who  may  be  under  their  authority-  It  is  likewise  stipulated,  that  this 
restriction  shall  never  afford  a  pretext,  nor  be  advanced,  in  any  case,  to  authorize 
either  search  or  detention  of  the  vessels,  seizure  of  the  merchandise,  or,  iri  fine,  any 
measures  of  constraint  whatever,  towards  the  merchants  or  the  crews  who  may 
carry  on  this  commerce;  the  high  contracting  powers  reciprocally  reserving  to 
themselves  to  determine  upon  the  penalties  to  be  incurred,  and  to  inflict  the  pun- 
ishments in  case  of  the  contravention  of  this  article  by  their  respective  citizens  or 
subjects. 

(No.  2 ) 

THE  FRENCH  TITLE. 

Extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Commillec  on  Military  Affairs,  made  in  Congress 

in  1843. 

The  treaty  of  Utrecht  was  concluded  in  1713.  By  the  tenth  article  ii  was  agreed 
between  Groat  Britain  and  France,  to  determine  within  one  year,  by  commission- 
en,  the  limits  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  places  appertaining  to  the  French 


116 


AFTEJUDIX. 


m 


The  same  commfssfoners  were  also  authorized  to  settle,  in  like  manner,  (he  bonn- 
darics  between  the  other  British  and  French  colonies  in  those  parts.  Commissioi>- 
ers  were  accordingly  appointed  by  the  two  Powers,  and  there  is  strong  reason  tc 
believe  they  actually  established  the  boundaries  according  to  the  terms  of  the  treatyr 
although  no  formal  record  of  the  fact  now  exists.  The  eTidence  that  the  boundaries 
were  thus  established  is,  first,  "  the  fact  of  the  appointment  of  the  commissioners  for 
that  express  purpose ;  and  that  two  distinct  lines  may  be  found  traced  on  the  dif- 
ferent maps  published  in  the  last  century,  each  purporting  to  be  the  limit  between 
the  Hudson's  Bay  territories  on  the  north  and  the  French  possessions  on  the  south, 
fixed  by  commisstoners  according  to  the  treaty  of  Utrecht/'  One  of  these  lines  "  is 
drawn  irregularly  from  the  Atlantic  to  a  point  in  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude,  south 
ef  the  southernmost  part  of  the  Hudson's  Bay,  and  thence  westward  along  that 
parallel  to  Red  River,  and,  in  some  maps,  still  further  west.  This  line  is  generally 
considered  in  the  United  States,  and  has  been  assumed  by  their  government,  as  the 
true  boundary  settled  by  the  commissieners  agreeabty  to  the  treaty  above  mention- 
ed." Thus  we  find  Messrs.  Monroe  and  Pinckney,  at  Madrid,  in  I80&,  writing  tc 
the  Spanish  minister  as  follows  ;  "  In  conformity  with  the  tenth  article  of  the  first- 
mentioned  treaty,  (treaty  of  Utrecht,)  the  boundary  between  Canada  and  Louisiana 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  nnd  Northwestern  Companies  on  the  other, 
was  established  by  commissioners  by  a  Hne  to  commence  at  a  cape  or  promontory 
sn  the  ocean  in  S9  degrees  31  minntes  north  latitude ;  to  run  thence  southwest- 
wardly  to  latitude  49  degrees  north  from  the  equator,  and  along  that  line  indefinitely 
westward."  These  extracts  are  taken  from  the  Memoir  of  Mr.  Greenhow,  who,  it 
is  proper  to  add,  considers  the  opinion  that  these  boundary  lines  were  actually  esta- 
blished by  the  commissioners  "  at  variance  with  the  most  accredited  aathorities."' 
In  this  opinion  the  committee  does  not  concur ;  so  far  from  doing  so,  it  is  thought 
the  presumption  that  the  49th  parallel  was  adopted  by  the  commissioners  under  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  is  strengthened  by  the  line  of  demarcation  subsequently  agreed  on 
by  the  treaty  of  Versailles,  in  1763,  between  France  and  (rreat  Britain,  and  also' 
by  the  treaty  of  peace  of  1783,  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  By 
the  former,  the  "  confines  between  the  British  and  French  possessions  were  irrevo- 
cably fixed  by  a  line  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  source  to 
the  Iberville,"  etc.  By  the  lattcr,'that  part  of  the  northera  boundary  of  the  United 
States  which  is  applicable  to  the  sublet  is  described  to  be  through  the  Lake-of>the- 
Woods,  "to  the  most  northwestern  point  thereof,  and  from  thence  on  a  due  west 
course  to  the  Mississippi  river."  The  most  northwestern  point  of  the  Lake-of-the- 
Woods  is  perhaps  a  few  nninutea  north  of  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude.  By  the  con- 
vention of  (818,  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  in  the  second  article, 
it  is  agreed  that  a  line  drawn  from  the  most  northwestern  point  of  the  Lake-of-the- 
Woods,  along  the  49>.h  parallel  of  north  latitude,  or  if  the  said  point  shall  not  lie  in 
(he  49th  parallel  of  north  latitude,  then  that  a  line  drawn  from  the  said  point  due 
north  or  south,  as  the  case  may  be,  untii  the  said  line  shall  intersect  the  said  par- 
allel of  north  latitude,  and  from  the  point  of  such  intersection,  due  west,  ak)ng  and 
with  said  parallel,  shall  be  the  Imi  of  demarcation  between  the  territories  of  the 
United  States  and  those  of  his  Britannic  majesty ;  and  that  the  said  line  shall  form 
the  northern'  boundary  ef  the  said  territories  of  the  United  States,  and  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  territory  of  his  Britannic  majesty,  from  the  Lake-of-the- Woods  to 
the  Stony  Mountains." 

This  line,  it  will  be  observed,  is  a  deviation  from  the  boundary  established  by  the 
treaty  of  178ft;  for  that  was  to  extend  due  west  from  the  northwestern  point  of  the 
Lake-of-the- Woods,  without  emij  referente  to  its  latitude.  By  this,  we  are  in  the 
eontingency  named>to  run  by  the  shortest  line  from  the  specified  point  on  the  Lake- 
ef-the- Woods  to  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude.  Whence,  it  may  be  asked,  the 
solicitude  to-  adopt  this  particular  parallel,  except  as  it  corresponded  with  preexisting 
arrangements,  which  could  have  been  made  under  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht  albne !  for  under  no  other  had  any  reference  at  that  time  b^en  made  to  the 
said  forty-ninth  degree. 

This  coincidence  between  the  boundaries  established  by  Great  Britain  and' France 
in  1V63,  and  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  in  1783  and  1818,  can 
scarcely  be  accounted  for  on  any  other  supposition,  than  that  the  said  linu  had  been 
previously  established  by  the  commissioners  under  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.  This 
conclusion  is  strengthened  by  a  further  coincidence  in  the  boundaries  fixed  in  the 
said  treaties  of  17C3  and  1783.  In  both,  the  Mississippi  is  ad(  ted  as  the  boundary. 
One  of  the  lines  then  (the  Mississippi)  previously  established  uetween  Great  Bri- 
tain and  France  being  thus,  beyond  all  cavil,  adopted  between  the  United  States 


APPENDIX. 


117 


and  Great  Britain,  mty  it  not  he  fairly  inferred,  in  the  absence  of  all  proof  to  the 
contrary,  and  with  strong  corroborating  proof  in  favor  of  the  inference,  drawn  from 
the  stipulations  of  treaties,  lines  of  demarcation  on  old  maps,  etc.,  that  the  other 
line,  (forty-ninth  parallel,)  equally  beyond  cavil  established  by  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  was  also  the  same  one  previously  existing  between  Great  Britain 
and  France  1  but  such  line  had  no  existence,  unless  under  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht.  For  these  reasons,  the  committee  has  adopted  the  opinion,  that 
the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude  was  actually  established  by  the  commissioners 
under  that  treaty.  It  may  not  be  unimportant  here  to  observe,  that  this  forty-ninth 
parallel  is  not  a  random  line,  arbitrarily  selected,  but  the  one  to  which  France  was 
entitled  upon  the  well-settled  principle  that  the  first  discoverer  of  a  river  is  entitled, 
by  virtue  of  that  discovery,  to  all  the  unoccupied  territory  watered  by  that  river  and 
its  tributaries. 

We  have  seen  that,  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  the  Mississippi,  from  its  source,  was 
adopted  as  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  British  aud  French  possessions. 
Louisiana  then  extended  north  as  far  fas  that  river  reached ;  in  other  words,  it 
stretched  along  the  whole  course  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  source,  in  about  lati- 
tude forty-nine,  to  its  mouth,  in  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  in  latitude  twenty-nine.  By 
the  stipulations,  then,  of  this  treaty  alone,  without  without  calling  in  the  aid  of  the 
previous  treaty  of  Utrecht,  the  northern  boundary  of  Louisiana  is  clearly  recognized  as 
a  line  drawn  due  west  from  the  source  of  the  Mississippi :  we  say  due  west,  because 
the  ease  line  alone  of  the  boundaries  of  Louisiana  being  specifically  and  in  express 
terms  established  by  the  treaty,  her  surface  can  only  be  ascertained  by  the  extension 
of  that  whole  line  in  the  direction  in  which  her  territory  is  admitted  to  lie.  This 
simple  and  only  practicable  process  of  giving  to  Louisiana  any  territory  under  the 
treaty,  fixes  as  the  whole  of  her  northern  boundary,  a  line  running  due  west  from 
the  source  of  the  Mississippi,  which  may,  for  the  purpose  of  this  argument,  be 
fairly  assumed  as  the  forty-nmth  parallel,  without  injustice  to  any  party. 

Having  thus  ascertained  the  northern  boundary  of  Louisiana,  it  becomes  impor- 
tant to  inquire  what  were  its  western  limits,  as  between  Great  Britain  and  France  : 
we  say  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  because  here  another  competitor  ap- 
peared, (we  speak  of  17fi3,)  in  the  person  of  the  king  of  Spain,  upon  whoso  title 
we  shall  insist,  if  we  fail  to  establish  that  of  Franco. 

The  treaty  of  1V63  professing  to  establish  and  actually  establishing  lines  of  de- 
marcation between  the  contiguous  territories  of  the  contracting  parties,  it  cannot  be 
denied,  except  upon  strong  proof,  that  all  the  boundaries  about  which  any  dispute 
then  existed,  or  subsequent  disputes  could  be  anticipated,  (that  is,  where  their  re- 
spective territories  touched  each  other,)  were  then  definitely  adjusted  and  settled. 
These  territories  are  known  to  have  touched  on  the  north  and  on  the  east ;  and  ac- 
cordingly in  those  quarters  wo  find  the  lines  clearly  described.  Is  it  not  evident, 
that  had  they  touched  in  other  points,  had  there  been  other  quartess  where  questions 
of  conflicting  claims  might  have  arisen,  the  lines  in  those  quarters  also  would  have 
been  fixed  with  equal  precision  T  But  to  the  south  and  west  there  is  no'allusion  in 
the  treaty  ;  an  omission  conclusive  of  the  fact  that  in  those  directions  Great  Britain 
had  no  territory  contiguous  to  Louisiana.  But  Louisiana  extended,  by  the  stipula- 
tions of  the  treaty,  west  from  the  Mississii)pi ;  and  Great  Britain,  having  no  terri- 
tory or  claim  to  territory  which  could  arrest  her  extension  in  that  direction,  is  pre- 
cluded from  denying  that  the  French  title  covered  the  whole  country  from  that/iver 
to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  parties  to  the  treaty  of  1763  made  partition  of  almost  the  whole  continent  of 
North  Atnerica,  assigning  to  England  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  north 
of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude.  No  claim  was  at  that  time  advanced  by 
Great  Britain  to  territory  in  any  other  quarter  of  this  vast  continent ;  a  very  preg- 
nant conclusion  against  the  existence  of  any  such  claim.  Her  Government,  ever 
vigilant  for  the  increase  of  her  territory,  with  a  view  to  the  extension  of  her  com- 
merce, manifested  upon  the  occasion  of  this  treaty  an  avidity  of  acquisition  which 
the  continent  was  scarcely-large  enough  to  satisfy.  Never  very  nice  in  scrutinizing 
the  foundation  of  her  protonsions,  nor  over  scrupulous  in  the  selection  of  means  to 
enforce  them,  she  was  at  this  juncture  in  a  position  peculiarly  auspicious  to  the 
gratification  of  her  absorbing  passion  of  territorial  aggrandizement.  Conqueror  at 
every  point,  she  dictated  the  terms  of  peace,  and  asserted  successfully  every  claim 
founded  in  the  slif^htcst  pretext  of  right.  Still  no  title  is  either  advanced  or  even 
intimated,  to  possessions  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

Mr.  Gushing,  of  Massachusetts,  in  a  report  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Re- 
lations, to  the  House  of  Representulives,  made  January  4,  1839,  has  the  following 


lis 


APPENDIX. 


sentences  :  "  As  between  France  and  Great  Britain,  or  Great  Britain  and  the  TJniteir 
Slates,  the  successor  of  ail  tlie  rights  of  France,  the  question  (of  boundary)  would 
■ccin  to  be  concluded  by  the  treaty  of  Versailles,  already  cited,  in  which  Great 
Britain  relinquishes,  irrevocably,  all  pretensions  west  of  the  Mississippi.  On  the 
footing  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  ratified  by  our  convention,  of  1818,  England  may 
posssilily,  by  extension  of  contiguity,  carry  her  possessions  from  Hudson's  Bay 
across  to  the  Pacific,  north  of  latitude  49°  ;  but  by  the  treaty  of  Versailles  we  pos- 
sess the  same  right,  and  an  exclusive  one,  to  carry  our  territory  across  the  conti* 
nent,  south  of  that  line,  in  the  right  of  France." 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  urged  thai  the  limits  of  Louisiana,  on  the  west,  are  confined 
to  the  territory  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  ;  the  e&tent  of  her 
claim,  founded  on  the  discovery  of  that  river,  being  restricted  to  the  ccuntry  so 
drained.  The  principle  upon  which  this  limitation  is  attempted  may  be  safely  ad- 
mitted, without  in  any  degree  affecting  the  right  for  which  we  contend  ;  because, 
first.  Great  Britain  is  precluded  from  asserting  it  by  her  admission,  in  1763,  that 
Louisiana  extended  indefinitely  west  from  the  Mississippi ;  and,  second,  becau8eth& 
principle  being  of  universal  application,  if  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  by  the 
French  confine  Louisiana  to  its  waters  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  discovery 
of  the  Columbia  by  the  Americans  will  extend  their  claim  to  the  whole  country 
watered  by  that  great  river,  west  of  those  mountains,  and  our  true  claim  has  this 
extent.  Yet,  to  avoid  unprofitable  disputes,  and  for  the  sake  of  peace,  we  have 
expressed  a  willingness  (met  in  no  corresponding  spirit,  the  committee  is  sorry  t» 
say,)  to  confine  ourselves  to  much  narrower  limits. 

(No.  3.) 

Copy  of  ike  Conmntion  between  his  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  King  ef  Spain,  com 
manly  called  the  Nnotka  Treaty,  of  October,  1790. 

•'  Article  1.  The  buildings  and  tracts  of  land  situated  on  tho  north-west  coast 
of  the  Continent  of  North  America,  or  on  the  islands  adjacent  to  that  Continent,  oC 
which  the  subjects  of  his  Britannic  majesty  were  dispossessed  about  the  month  of 
April,  1789,  by  a  Spanish  ofEcer,  shall  be  restored  to  the  said  British  subjects. 

"  Art.  2.  A  just  reparation  shall  be  made  according  to  the  nature  of  the  cate» 
for  all  acts  of  violence  and  hostility  which  may  have  been  committed  subsequent  to 
the  month  of  April,  1789,  by  the  subjects  of  either  of  the  contracting  parties  against 
the  subjects  of  the  other ;  and  in  case  said  respective  subjects  shall,  since  the  same' 
period,  have  been  forcibly  dispossessed'  of  their  lands,  bildings,  vessels,  merchandise,, 
and  oiher  property  whatever  on  the  said  Continent,  or  on  the  seas  and  isliands  ad- 
jacent, they  shall  be  reestablished  in  the  possession  thereof,  or  a  just  compensatipa 
shall  be  made  to  them  for  the  losses  which  they  have  sustained. 

"  Art.  3".  In  order  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendship,  and  to  preserve  in 
future  a  perfect  harmony  and  good  understanding  between  the'  two  contracting  par- 
ties, it  is  agreed,  that  their  respective  subjects  shall  not  be  disturbed  or  molested,, 
either  in  negotiating  or  carrying  on  their  fisheries  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  or  in  tho 
South  Seas,  or  in  landing  on  the  coast  of  these  seas,  in  places  not  aliready  occupied,, 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  their  commerce  with  the  natives  of  th?  country,  or  of 
making  settlements  there ;  the  whole  subject,  nevertheless,  to  the  instructions 
specified  in  these  following  articles. 

"  Art.  4.  His  Britannic  majesty  engages  to  take  the  most  efJectual  measures  to 
prevent  the  navigation,  and  the  fishing  of  his  subjects  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  in  the 
South  Seas,  from  being  made  a  pretext  for  illicit  trade  with  the  Spanish  settlements  ; 
and  with  this  view,  it  is  moreover,  expressly  stipulated,  that  British  subjects  shall 
not  navigate  or  carry  on  their  fishery  in  the  said  seas,  within  the  space  of  ten  sea 
leagues  from  any  j-art  of  the  coasts  already  occupied  by  Spain. 

"  Akt.  5.  As  well  in  the  places  which  are  to  be  restored  to  the  British  subject " 
by  virtue  of  the  first  Article,  as  in  afl  other  parts  of  the  north-westerrj  coast  of 
America,  or  of  the  islands  adjacent,  situate  to  the  north  of  the  parts  of  the  said 
coast  already  occupied  by  Spain,  wherever  the  subjects  of  the  two  powers  shalf 
have  made  settlements,  since  the  month  of  April,  1789,  qr  shall  hereafter  make  any» 
the  subjects  of  the  other  shall  have  free  access,  and  shall  carry  on  their  trade  with- 
out any  disturbance  or  molestation. 

"  Art.  6.  With  respect  to  the  eastern  and  western  coasts  of  South  America^ 
and  to  the  islands  adjacent,  no  settlement  shall  be  formed  hereafter  by  the  respective 
subjects  in  such  part  of  those  coasts  as  are  situated  to  the  south  of  those  parts  of 
the  same  coasts,  and  of  the  islands  adjacent,  which  are  already  occupied  by  Spain  r„ 


APPENDIX. 


119 


fravideJ,  that  the  said  respective  subjects  shall  retain  the  liberty  of  landing  on  the 
coasts  and  islands  so  situated,  for  the  purposes  of  their  fishery,  and  of  erecting 
thereon,  huts  and  other  temporary  buildings,  serving  only  for  those  purposes. 

"Art.  7.  In  all  cases  of  complaint,  or  infraction  of  the  articles  of  the  present  con- 
vention, the  officers  of  either  party,  without  permitting  themselves  previously  to 
commit  any  violence  or  acts  of  force,  shall  be  bound  to  make  an  exact  report  of  the 
affair,  and  of  its  circumstances,  to  their  respective  courts  who  will  terminate  such 
diflerences  in  an  amicable  manner. 

Art.  8,  The  present  convention  shall  be  ratified  and  confirmed  in  the  space  of 
six  weeks,  to  be  computed  from  the  day  of  its  signature,  or  sooner,  if  it  can  be  done. 
"  In  witness  whereof,  we,  the  undersigned,  plenipotentiaries  of  their  Britannic  and 

Catholic  majesties,  have  in  their  names,  and  by  virtue  of  respective  fuU  powers, 

signed  the  present  convention,  and  set  thereto  the  seals  of  our  Arms.     Done  at 

the  palace  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  28th  of  October,  1700. 

[l.  s.]  "  El  Condk  De  Florida  Banca. 

f  L.  S.]  "  AlLEYNB    FlTHZHEBBKT." 

[No's  4  and  5  of  the  Appendix,  consisting  of  a  correspondence  between  Captains  Gray  and 
Ingraham  and  the  Spanish  commissioner  at  Nootka  in  1792,  and  an  extract  from  Captain  Gray's 
log-book  rev|>ecting  the  occurrences  in  the  Columbia  river  on  his  first  visit,  though  referred  to 
in  the  preceding  pages,  were  deemed  ta  be  of  not  enough  importance  to  warrant  any  further 
increase  of  this  portion  of  the  work.] 

(No.  fl.) 

BRITISH  STATEMENT,  OF  1836.» 

Thb  government  of  Great  Britain,  in  proposing  to  renew,  for  a  further  term 
of  years,  the  third  article  of  the  convention  of  1818,  respecting  the  territory  on  the 
north-west  coast  of  America,  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  regrets  that  it  has  been 
found  impossible,  in  the  present  negotiation,  to  agree  upon  a  line  of  boundary  which 
should  separate  those  parts  of  that  territory,  which  might  henceforward  be  occupied 
or  settled  by  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain,  from  the  parts  which  would  remain  open 
to  occupaiicy  or  settlement  by  the  United  States. 

To  establish  such  a  boundary  must  be  the  ultimate  object  of  both  countries.  With 
this  object  in  contemplation,  and  from  a  persuasion  that  a  part  of  the  difEculties 
which  have  hitherto  prevented  its  attainment  is  to  be  attributed  to  a  misconception, 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  of  the  claims  and  views  of  Great  Britain  in  regard 
to  the  territory  in  question,  the  British  plenipotentiaries  deem  it  advisable  to  bring 
under  the  notice  of  the  American  plenipotentiary  a  full  and  explicit  exposition  of  those 
claims  and  views. 

As  preliminary  to  this  discussion,  it  is  highly  desirable  to  mark  distinctly  the  broad 
difference  between  the  nature  of  the  rights  claimed  by  Great  Britiin  and  those 
asserted  by  the  United  States,  in  respect  to  thf"  territory  in  question. 

Over  a  large  portion  of  that  territory,  nan  ly,  from  the  42d  degree  to  the  49th 
degree  of  north  latitude,  the  United  States  claim  full  and  exclusive  sovereignty. t 

Great  Britain  claims  no  exclusive  sovereignly  over  any  'portion  of  that  territory. X 
Her  present  claim,  not  in  respect  to  any  part,  but  to  the  whole,  is  limited  to  a  right 
of  joint  occupancy,  in  common  with  other  states,  leaving  the  right  of  exclusive 
dominion  in  abeyance. 

In  other  words,  the  pretensions  of  the  United  States  tand  to  the  ejection  of  all 
othernations,  and,  among  the  rest,  of  Great  Britain,  from  all  right  of  settlement  in 
the  district  claimed  by  the  United  States  (j 

The  pretensions  of  Great  Britain,  on  the  contrary,  tend  to  the  mere  maintenance 
of  her  own  rights,  in  resistance  to  the  exclusive  character  of  the  pretensions  of  the 
United  States. 

Having  thus  stated  the  nature  of  the  respective  claims  of  the  two  parties,  the 

»  This  statement  is  here  inserted  in  full,  because  it  is  a  complete  synopsis  of  all  the  pretensions 
of  Great  Britain  ;  and  being  the  groundwork  of  Iier  claims,  is  particularly  interesting  as  show- 
ing the  other  side  of  the  itory. 

t  At  the  period  of  this  convention,  the  United  States  plenipotentiary  was  instructed  to  agree 
io  the  extension  of  o\ir  northern  boundary  line,  westward  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  along 
parallel  490,  to  the  Pacific  ;  with  the  further  instruction,  that  in  case  such  compromise  should 
not  be  accepted,  wo  should  feel  ourselves  entitled  thereafter,  to  insist  upon  the  full  measure 
of  our  rights. 

\  She  has  exercised  it  nevertheless. 

kj  Truly  so  ;  and  this  must  always  be  the  case  between  rightful  owners  and  mere  pretenders. 


120 


J^PPINDIX. 


British  plenipotentiaries  will  now  examine  the  grounds  on  which  those  claims  arc 
fouoded. 

Tiio  claims  of  the  United  States  are  urged  upon  three  grounds  : 

Ist.     As  reBulting  Irom  their  own  proper  right. 

2dly.  Am  resulting  from  a  right  derived  to  them  from  Spain  ;  that  power  having 
by  the  treaty  of  Florida,  concluded  with  the  United  States  in  1819,  ceded  to  the 
latter  all  their  rights  and  claims  on  the  western  coast  of  America  north  of  the  4Sd 
degree. 

3dly.  As  resulting  from  a  right  derived  to  them  from  France,  to  whom  the  United 
States  succeeded,  by  treaty,  in  possession  of  the  province  of  Louisiana. 

The  first  right,  or  right  proper,  of  the  United  States,  is  founded  on  the  alleged 
discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  by  Mr.  Gray,  of  Boston,  who,  in  1792,  entered 
that  river,  and  explored  it  to  some  distance  from  its  mouth. 

To  this  are  added  the  first  exploration,  by  Lewis  and  Clarke,  of  a  main  branch  of 
the  same  river,  from  its  source  downwiirds,  and  also  the  alleged  priority  of  settle- 
jnent,  by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  of  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  same  river. 

The  second  right,  or  right  derived  from  Spain,  ia  founded  on  the  alleged  prior 
discovery  of  the  region  in  dispute  by  Spanish  navigators,  of  whom  the  chief  were, 
1st,  CHbrillo,  who,  in  1643,  visited  ihat  coast  as  far  as  44  degrees  north  latitude; 
3d,  De  Fuca,  who,  as  it  is  affirmed,  in  1598,  entered  the  straits  known  by  his  name 
in  latitude  49  degrees ;  3d,  Guelli,  who,  in  1682,  is  said  to  have  pushed  his 
researches  as  high  as  57  degrees  north  latitude ;  4th,  Perez  and  others,  who, 
between  the  years  1774  and  1792,  visited  Nootka  Sound  and  the  adjacent  coasts. 

The  third  right,  derived  from  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States,  is 
founded  on  the  assumption  that  that  province,  its  boundaries  never  having  bdea 
exactly  defined  longitudinally,  may  fairly  be  asserted  to  extend  westward  across  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  to  the  shore  of  the  Pacific. 

Before  the  merits  of  these  respective  claims  are  considered,  it  is  necessary  to 
observe  that  one  only  ou*^  of  the  three  can  be  valid. 

They  are,  in  fact,  claims  obviously  incompatible  the  one  with  the  other.*  If,  for 
example,  the  title  of  Spain  by  first  discovery,  or  the  title  of  Franco  as  the  original 
possessor  of  Louisiana,  bo  valid,  then  must  one  or  the  other  of  those  kingdoms  have 
been  the  lawful  possessor  of  that  territory,  at  the  moment  when  the  United  States 
claim  to  have  discovered  it.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Americans  were  the  first 
discoverers,  there  is  necessarily  an  end  of  the  Spanish  claim ;  and  if  priority  of 
discovery  constitutes  the  title,  that  of  France  falls  equally  to  the  gj-ound. 

Upon  the  question,  how  far  prior  discovery  constitutes  a  legal  claim  to  sover- 
eignty, the  law  uf  nations  is  somewhat  vague  and  undefined.  It  is,  however, 
admitted  by  the  most  approved  writers  that  mere  accidental  discovery,  unattended 
by  exploration — by  formally  taking  possession  in  the  name  of  the  discoverer's  sove- 
reign— by  occupation  and  settlement,  more  or  less  permanent — by  purchase  of  the 
territory — or  receiving  the  sovereignty  from  the  natives — constitutes  the  lowest 
degree  of  title,  and  that  it  is  only  in  proportion  as  first  discovery  is  followed  by  any 
or  all  of  these  acts,  that  such  title  is  strengthened  and  confirmed. 

The  rights  conferred  by  discovery,  therefore,  must  be  discussed  on  their  own 
merits.    . 

But  before  the  British  plenipotentiaries  proceed  to  compare  the  relative  claims  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  Slates,  in  this  respect,  it  will  be  advisable  to  dispose 
of  the  two  other  grounds  of  right,  put  forward  by  the  United  States. 

The  second  ground  of  claim,  advanced  by  the  United  States,  is  the  cession  made 
by  Spain  to  the  United  States,  by  the  treaty  of  Florida,  in  1819. 

If  the  conflicting  claims  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  in  respect  to  all  that  part  of 
the  coast  of  North  America,  had  not  been  finally  adjusted  by  the  convention  of 
Nootka,  in  the  year  1790,  and  if  all  the  arguments  and  pretensions,  whether  resting 
on  priority  of  discovery,  or  derived  from  any  other  consideration,  had  not  been 
definitively  set  at  rest  by  the  signature  of  that  convention,  nothing  would  be  more 
easy  than  to  demonstrate  that  the  claims  of  Great  Britain  to  that  country,  as 
opposed  to  those  of  Spain,  were  so  far  from  visionary,  or  arbitrarily  assumed,  that 
they  established  more  than  a  parity  of  title  lo  the  possession  of  the  country  in 
question,  either  as  against  Spain,  or  any  other  nation. 

Whatever  that  title  may  have  been,  however,  either  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain 

*By  no  means!  An  eqnitahlo  settlement  might  at  one  time  have  divided  tlie  territory 
between  tlie  two  first  parties  claimnnt ;  and  tlieir  Joint  release  in  favor  of  tlie  United  States, 
wliile  it  makes  absolutely  against  Great  Britain,  strengtliens  the  title  ol  the  United  States  in 
the  same  degree, 


APPENDIX. 


121 


or  on  the  part  of  Spain,  prior  to  the  convention  of  1790,  it  wai  from  thenceforward 
no  longer  to  be  traced  in  vague  narratives  of  diicoveries,  aevernl  of  them  admitted 
to  be  apocryphal,  but  in  the  text  and  stipulations  of  that  convention  itself. 

By  that  convention  it  was  agreed  that  all  parts  of  the  north-western  coast  oi 
America,  not  already  occupied  at  that  time  by  either  of  the  contracting  parties, 
should  thenceforward  be  equally  open  to  the  subjects  of  both,  for  all  purposes  of 
commerce  and  settlement ;  the  sovereignty  remaining  in  abeyance; 

In  this  stipulation,  as  it  has  been  already  stated,  all  tracts  of  country  claimed  by 
Spain  and  Groat  Britain,  or  accruing  to  either,  in  whatever  manner,  were  included. 

The  Tights  of  Spain  on  that  coast  were,  by  the  treaty  of  Florida,  in  1819,  con- 
veyed by  Spam  to  the  United  States.  With  those  rights  the  United  States  neces- 
sarily succeeded  to  the  limitations  by  which  they  were  defined,  and  the  obligations 
uuder  which  they  were  to  be  exercised.  Ttom  those  obligations  and  limitations,  as 
Ctntiacted  towards  Great  Britain,  Great  Britain  cannot  be  expected  gratuitously  to 
release  those  countries,  merely  because  the  rights  of  the  party  originally  bound  have 
been  transferred  to  a  third  power. 

The  third  ground  of  claim  of  the  United  States  rests  on  the  right  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  the  cession  to  them  of  Louisiana  by  Franco. 

In  arguing  this  branch  of  the  question,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  examine  in 
detail  the  very  dubious  point  of  the  assumed  extent  of  that  province,  since,  by  the 
treaty  between  France  and  SpRin  of  1763,  the  whole  of  that  territory,  defined  or 
undefined,  real  or  ideal,  was  ceded  by  France  to  Spain,  and,  consequently,  belonged 
to  Spain,  not  only  in  1790,  when  the  convention  of  Nootka  was  signed  between 
Great  Britain  and  Spain,  but  also  subsequently,  in  1792,  tho  period  of  Gray's  disco- 
very of  iht  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  If,  then,  Louisiana  embraced  the  country  west 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  the  south  of  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude,  it  must  have 
embrac-d  the  Columbia  itself,  which  that  parallel  intersects;  and,  consequently, 
Gray's  discovery  must  have  been  made  in  a  country  avowedly  already  appropriated 
to  Spain,  and,  if  so  appropriated,  necessarily  included,  with  all  other  Spanish  posses- 
sions and  claims  in  that  quarter,  in  the  stipulations  of  the  Nootka  convention. 

Even  if  it  could  be  shown,  therefore,  that,  the  district  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains was  within  the  boundaries  of  Louisiana,  that  circumstance  would  in  no  way 
assist  the  claim  of  the  United  States. 

It  may,  nevertheless,  be  worth  while  to  expose,  in  a  few  words,  the  futility  of  the 
attempt  to  include  that  district  within  those  boundaries. 

For  this  purpose,  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  original  grant  of  Louisiana 
made  to  De  Crozat  by  Louis  XIV.,  shortly  after  its  discovery  by  La  Salle.  That 
province  is  therein  expressly  described  as  "  the  country  drained  by  the  waters  en- 
tering, directly  or  indirectly,  into  the  Mississippi."  Now,  unless  it  can  be  shown 
that  any  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  from 
west  to  east,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  any  part  of  Louisiana  can  bo  found  to 
the  west  of  that  ridge. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  the  first  ground  of  claim  advanced  by  the  United 
States  to  the  territory  in  question,  namely,  that  founded  en  their  own  proper  right 
as  first  discoverers  and  occupiers  of  territory. 

If  the  discovery  of  the  country  in  question,  or  rather  the  mere  entrance  into  the 
mouth  of  tho  Columbia  by  a  private  American  citizen,  be,  as  the  United  States  as- 
sert, (although  Great  Britain  is  far  from  admitting  the  correctness  of  the  assertion,) 
a  valid  ground  of  national  and  exclusive  claim  lo  al*  the  country  situated  between 
the  42d  and  49lh  parallels  of  latitude,  then  must  any  preceding  discovery  of  the 
same  country,  by  an  individual  of  any  other  nation,  invest  such  nation  with  a  more 
valid,  because  a  prior,  claim  to  thai  country. 

Now,  to  set  aside,  for  the  present,  Drake,  Cook,  and  Vancouver,  who  all  of  them 
either  took  possession  of,  or  touched  at,  various  points  of  the  coast  in  question. 
Great  Britain  can  show  that  in  1788 — that  is,  four  years  before  Gray  entered  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  River— Mr.  Meares,  a  lieutenant  of  the  royal  navy,*  who 
had  been  sent  by  the  £ast  India  Company  on  a  trading  expedition  to  the  north-west 
coast  of  America,  had  already  minutely  explored  that  coast,  from  the  49ih  degree 
to  the  45th  degree  north  latitude ;  had  taken  formal  possession  of  the  Straits  of 
De  Fuca,  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign  ;  had  purchased  land,  trafficked  And  formed 
treaties^  with  the  natives  ;  and  had  actually  entered  the  bay  of  the  Columbia,  to  the 

*  Meares  was  o  Portuguese  hireling',  and  not  in  any  branch  of  English  service,  and  though 
a  speculating  lialf-iiay  lieutenant,  was,  to  all  intents  an<l  purposes,  as  much  a  private  citizen  as 
Captain  Gray.    See  Appendix,  No.  10. 

t  The  only  treaty  he  formed,  was  an  agreement  With  Maqulnna,  the  king  of  the  surround- 


123 


APPENDIX. 


i 


northern  bend  UnJ  of  which  be  gave  ibe  nime  of  Cape  Diaappointmtnf-'t,  name 
which  it  bnar*  to  thit  day. 

Dixon,  Scott,  Duncan,  Strange,  and  othor  privatp  Britiih  traders,  had  also  viaitnd 
theae  ihurea  and  countriea  aavcrat  yeara  before  Gray  ;  but  the  single  example  of 
Meares  auflices  to  qunah  Gray'a  claim  to  prior  diacovery.  To  tho  other  navigators 
above  mentioned,  therefore,  it  ia  unnecessary  to  refer  more  particularly. 

It  may  be  worth  while,  however,  to  obaervc,  with  regard  to  Mcaios,  that  hit  vc* 
count  of  his  voyaaes  was  publinhed  in  London  in  August,  1790  ;  that  is,  two 
yeara  before  Gray  is  even  pretended  to  have  entered  tiie  Columbia.f 

To  that  account  are  appended,  first,  extracts  from  his  log-book;  secondly,  maps 
of  the  coasts  and  harbors  which  he  visited,  in  which  every  part  of  tho  coast  in  quet- 
i\on,including  the  bay  o^  the  Columbia,  {into  which  the  log  expressli/ at  alea  that  Meares 
entered,)  is  minutely  laid  down,  its  delineation  tallying,  in  almoitt  every  particulari 
with  Vancouver's  subsequent  survey,  and  with  the  description  found  in  all  the  best 
maps  of  that  part  of  the  world,  adopted  at  this  moment ;  thirdly,  the  account  in  quee- 
tioii  actually  containa  an  engraving,  dated  in  August,  1790,  of  the  entrance  of  De 
Fuca'fl  Straits,  executed  after  a  design  taken  in  June,  1788,  by  Meares  himaelf.f 

With  theae  physical  evidencea  of  authenticity,  it  ia  needless  to  contend  for,  as  it 
is  impossible  to  controvert,  the  truth  of  Mearea's  statement. 

It  wns  only  on  the  17 th  of  September,  1788,  that  the  Washington,  commanded 
by  Mr.  Gray,  first  made  her  appearance  at  Nootka. 

If,  therefore,  any  claim  to  these  countries,  as  between  Great  Britain  and  the  Uni- 
ted States,  is  to  be  deduced  from  priority  of  the  discovery,  the  above  exposition  of 
dates  and  facts  suffices  to  establish  that  claim  in  favor  of  Great  Britain,  on  a  basis 
too  firm  to  be  shaken. 

It  mirst,  indeed,  be  admitted  that  Mr.  Gray,  finding  himself  in  the  bay  formed 
by  the  discharge  of  the  waters  of  the  Columbia  into  tho  Pacific,  was  the  first  to  as- 
certain that  this  bay  formed  the  outlet  of  a  great  river — n  discovery  which  had  es- 
caped Lieutenant  Meares,  when,  in  1788,  four  years  before  he  entered  the  very  same 
bay. 

But  can  it  be  seriously  urged  that  this  single  step  in  the  progress  of  discovery  not 
only  wholly  supersedes  the  prior  discoveries,  both  of  the  bay  and  ther.oa^t,  by  Lieu- 
tenant Meares,  but  equally  absorbs  the  subsequent  exploration  of  thi'  rtver  by 
Captain  Vancouver,  for  near  a  hundred  miles  above  the  point  to  which  lit  Gray'e 
ship  had  proceeded,  the  formal  taking  possession  of  it  by  that  British  navigator,  in 
the  name  of  his  sovereign,  and  also  all  the  other  discoveries,  CAplorations,  and  tem- 
porary posseasion  and  occupation  of  the  ports  and  harbors  on  the  coast,  as  well 
of  the  Pacific  as  within  the  Straits  of  Do  Fuca,  up  to  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude  1^ 

This  pretension,  however,  extraordinary  as  it  is,  does  not  embrace  the  whole 
of  the  claim  which  the  United  States  build  upon  the  limited  discovery  of  Mr.  Gray, 
namely,  that  the  bay  of  which  Cape  Disappelntment  is  the  northernmost  headland, 
is,  in  fact,  the  embrochure  of  a  river.  That  ra*^re  ascertainment,  it  is  asserted, 
confers  on  the  United  States  a  title,  in  exclusive  sovereignty,  to  the  whole  extent 
of  country  drained  by  such  river,  and  by  all  its  tributary  streams. 

In  support  of  this  very  extraordinary  pretentiion,  the  United  States  allege  the 
preoedcMt  of  grants)  »nd  charters  accorded  in  former  times  to  companies  and  indi- 
viduals, by  various  European  sovereigns,  over  several  parts  of  the  American  conti- 
nent. Among  other  instances  are  adduced  the  charters  granted  by  Elizabeth, 
James  I.,  Charles  II.,  and  George  II.,  to  sundry  British  subjects  and  associations,!! 

ing  country,  granting  him  leave  to  make  n  temporary  building,  on  tho  express  condition, 
that  when  he  tinally  left  the  coast,  "  the  house  and  all  tlie  goods  thereunto  belonging"  should 
fell  into  that  chiePs  possession  ;  a  condition,  by  the  way,  which  Meares  dishonestly  failed  to 
fulfil,  for  tlic  boards  were  struck  oA',  and  taken  on  board  one  of  his  vessels,  and  the  roof  was 
given  to  Captain  Kundrick. 

•  "  Cape  Disappointment,"  because  he  failed  to  discover  the  river  he  sought. 

t  That  is  to  say,  he  was  "  disappointed"  two  years  before  Captain  Gray  was  satisfied. 

\  It  will  be  recollected  it  was  "  Meares  himself"  v/ho  despatched  word  to  England  of  the 
wonderful  discoveries  of  Captain  Oray,  in  the  Strait  of  Fuca. 

^  No  ;  we  claim  these  latter,  on  the  ground  of  other  discoveries,  and  also  on  the  score  of  Speun. 

II  This  is  a  wilful  perversion,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  The  United  States,  in  proving  the  prin- 
ciple, merely  alluded  io  these  latter  charters  as  instances  of  Britain'.s  recognition  of  the  rule 
with  her  own  subjects,  or  in  other  words,  when  it  ran  in  favor  of  heritlf  While  the  correct- 
ness and  usage  of  the  principle  was  otherwise  indubitably  proved,  tho  above  instances  were 
merely  brought  forward  as  a  conclusive  rebuke  to  Britain's  opposition  to  its  ap])llcation  to  us. 
It  was  on  the  ground  of  these  charters,  together  with  the  application  of  their  rule  to  the  pre- 
tended discovery  of  the  Columbia  river  by  Vancouver  and  Meares,  that  we  felt  warranted  in 
asserting  uu  the  31st  page,  that  Great  Britain  Tdvauces  the  principle  herself. 


APPENDIX. 


•I  nlao  tho  grant  made  by  Loiii*  XIV.  to  Do  Crozat  over  tho  tract  of  country 
WHtcrcd  by  tho  Mistissippi  nnd  ita  tributHrien. 

lint  can  •Mch  chartur*  bo  convidcred  an  acknowledged  part  of  thp  law  of  nntioni«1 
Wuro  they  any  thing  ninro,  in  fact,  than  a  coiiion  to  tho  (;rnntoe  or  graiiteps  of| 
whatever  ri|jht«  the  gratitor  might  aiippoRo  himaolf  to  posacai,  to  tho  excluaion 
of  other  Biil)joct8  of  the  lame  rovrreignl — charters  binding  and  restraining  those 
only  who  wure  within  tho  jurisdiction  of  the  grantor,  and  of  no  force  or  viilidity 
against  the  subjects  of  other  states,  until  recognized  by  treaty,  and  thereby  becoming 
a  part  of  intornittional  law. 

Had  the  United  States,  thought  proper  to  issue,  in  1700,  by  virtue  of  their  na- 
tional authority,  a  charter  granting  to  Mr.  Gray  the  whole  extent  of  country  watered, 
directly  or  indirectly,  by  the  River  Columbia,*  such  a  chorter,  would,  no  doubt,  have 
been  valid  in  Mr.  Giay'a  favor,  as  against  all  other  [citizens  of  the  United  States. 
But  can  it  be  suppoacd  that  ii  would  have  been  acquiesced  in  by  either  of  tho 
powers.  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  which,  in  that  same  year,  were  preparing  to  con- 
test by  arms  the  possession  of  the  Tery  country  which  would  have  been  the  subject 
of  such  a  grant? 

If  tho  right  of  sovereignty  over  tho  territory  in  question  accrues  to  the  United 
States  by  Mr.  Gray's  discovery,  how  happens  it  that  they  never  protested  against 
the  violence  dono  to  thai  right  by  the  two  powers,  who,  by  the  convention  of  1790, 
regulated  their  respective  rights  in  and  over  a  district  so  belonging,  as  it  is  now  as- 
serted, to  the  United  States  ? 

This  claim  of  tho  United  States  to  the  territory  drained  by  tho  Columbia  and  its 
tributary  streams,  on  the  ground  of  one  of  their  citizens  having  been  the  first  to 
discover  the  entrance  of  that  river,  has  been  here  so  far  entered  into,  nut  because 
it  is  considered  to  be  necessarily  entitled  to  notice,  sinco  the  whole  country  watered 
by  the  Columbia  falls  within  the  provisions  of  the  convention  of  1700,  But,  because 
the  doctrine  above  alluded  to  has  been  put  forward  so  broadly,  and  with  such  con- 
fidence, by  tho  United  States,  that  Great  Britain  considered  it  equally  due  to  her- 
self and  to  other  powers  to  enter  her  protest  against  it, 

The  United  States  further  pretend  that  iheir  claim  to  the  country  in  question  is 
strengthened  and  confirmed  by  tho  discovery  of  the  sourccd  oi"  the  Columbia,  and 
by  the  exploration  of  its  course  to  the  spa  by  Lewis  and  Glarko,  in  ISO.'i-S. 

In  reply  to  this  allegation.  Great  Britain  affirms,  and  can  distinctly  prove,  that, 
if  not  before,  at  least  in  tho  same  and  subsequent  years,  her  North- Western  Trad- 
ing Company  had,  by  means  of  their  agent,  Mr.  Thomson,  already  established  their 
posts  among  the  Flat-head  and  Kootanie  tribes,  on  the  head-waters  of  the  northern 
or  main  branch  of  the  Columbia,  and  were  gradually  extending  them  down  the 
principal  stream  of  that  river ;  thus  giving  to  Great  Britain,  m  this  particular, 
again,  as  in  the  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  river,  a  tillc  to  parity  at  least,  if  not 
priority,  of  discovery,  as  opposed  to  the  United  States.  It  was  from  those  posts, 
that,  having  heard  of  the  American  establishment  forming  in  1811,  at  the  mouth  of 
tho  river,  Mr  Thomson  hastened  thither,  descending  the  river,  to  ascertain  the  na- 
ture of  that  establishment.! 

Some  stress  having  been  laid  by  tho  United  States  on  tho  restitution  to  them  of 
Fort  George  by  the  British,  after  the  termination  of  tho  last  war,  which  restitution 
they  represent  as  conveying  a  virtual  acknpwledgment  by  Great  Britain  of  the  title 
of  the  United  States  to  the  country  in  which  that  post  was  situated — it  is  desirable 
to  stale,  somewhat  in  detail,  the  circumstances  attending  that  restitution. 

In  the  year  1815,  a  demand  for  the  restoration  of  Fort  George  was  first  made  to 
Great  Britain,  by  the  American  government,  on  the  plea  that  the  first  article  of  the 
treaty  of  Ghent  stipulated  tho  restitution  to  the  U'iited  States  of  all  posts  and 
places  whatsoever  taken  from  them  by  the  British  during  the  war,  in  which  descrip- 
tion. Fort  George,  (Astoria,)  was  included. 

For  some  time  the  British  government  demurred  to  comply  with  the  demand  of 
the  United  States,  because  they  entertained  doubts  how  far  it  could  be  sustained 
by  the  construction  of  the  treaty. 

In  the  first  place,  the  trading  post  called  Fort  Astoria  (or  Fort  George,)  was  not 
a  national  possession  ;  in  the  second  place,  it  was  not  a  military  post ;  and,  thirdly, 
it  was  never  captured  from  the  Americans  by  the  British. 

It  was,  in  fact,  conveyed  in  regular  commercial  transfer,  and  accompanied  by  a 

•  These  F.nglishmpn  arc  crazy— thn  Columbia  was  not  discovered  by  Captain  Gray  till 
1793.  If  tlic  above  is  intended  as  an  illustration  only,  the  instance  is  as  weak  as  the  previous 
arguments  are  inconclusive. 

t  Wc  have  seen  that  Mr.  Thomson  came  a  year  too  late. 


134 


APPENDIX. 


' 


bill  of  mle,  for  »  Kum  of  mon«y,  to  (hit  Dritiih  company,  who  purchniod  it,  by  (ho 
American  compnny,  who  loUi  it  of  their  own  fret  will. 

It  it  trti«  (hnt  a  Ilritiih  Muop  of  war  \\i\A,  about  that  time,  been  tient  to  tnke  pot- 
■eiaion  •(  (hnt  post,  but  the  arrived  aiibacquoiitly  to  the  traniaction  above  men- 
tionnil,  bfltwnrn  the  two  companiet,  and  found  the  Uritiih  company  already  m  legal 
occupation  of  their  iielf  acquired  properti/. 

In  cniiie()ionce,  however,  of  thiit  Nhip  having;  been  cent  out  with  hnttile  vinwi, 
althou){h  thoKe  viowa  were  not  carried  into  effect,*  and  in  ordrr  that  not  even  a  iha- 
dow  of  a  reflection  might  bo  cast  upon  the  good  faith  of  tiie  British  Kovcrninont, 
the  latter  determined  to  give  the  noost  lllioral  exter)tion  to  the  terms  of  Iho  treaty 
of  Ghent,  and,  in  1818,  the  purchase  which  tho  Dritish  company  had  made  in  1813 
was  restored  to  the  United  States. 

Particnjiir  care,  however,  was  taken,  on  thia  occasion,  to  prevent  any  miHappre 
henaion  as  to  the  rutefit  of  the  concession  made  by  Great  DritHJn. 

Viscount  Castlereagh,  in  directing  the  Briti«h  minister  at  Washington  to  intimate 
the  intention  of  the  British  government  to  Mr.  Adams,  then  secretary  of  state,  uses 
these  expressions,  in  a  despatch  dated  4th  February,  1818:-— 

"  You  will  observe,  that,  whilst  this  government  it  not  disposed  to  contest  with 
the  American  gouernment  the  point  of  |iossossion  as  it  stood  in  tho  Columbia 
River  at  the  moment  of  the  rupture,  theij  are  not  prepared  to  admit  the  validitij  of 
the  title  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  this  settlement. 

"In  signifying,  therefore,  to  Mr.  Adamt  tho  full  ncquiescenco  of  your  govern- 
ment in  the  reoccupation  of  the  limited  position  which  the  United  States  held  in 
that  river  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  you  will  at  the  tame  time  assert,  in  suita- 
ble terms,  the  claim  of  Great  Britain  to  that  territory,  upon  which  the  American 
settlement  must  be  considered  as  an  encroachment." 

This  instruction  was  executed  verbally  by  the  person  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 

The  following  is  a  transcript  of  tho  act  by  which  the  fort  was  delivered  up,  by  the 
British,  into  tho  hand  of  Mr.  Piav«4t,  the  American  agent: — 

"  In  obedience  to  the  command  of  H.  R.  H.  the  prince  regent,  .signified  in  a  des- 
patch from  the  right  honorable  the  Earl  Bathursl,  addressed  to  tho  partners  or  agents 
of  the  North-West  Company,  bearing  date  the  27lli  of  January,  1818.  and  in  obe- 
dience 10  a  subsequent  order,  dated  tho  26th  July,  from  VV.  H.  Sheriff,  Esq.,  cap- 
tain of  H.  M.  ship  Andromscho,  We,  tho  undersigned,  do,  in  conformity  to  the  first 
article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  restore  to  the  government  of  the  United  Slates,  through 
its  agent,  J.  P.  Provost,  Esq.,  tho  settlement  of  Fort  George,  on  the  Columbia  river. 

•'Given  under  our  hands,  in  triplicate,  at  Fct  George,  (Columbia  River,)  this 
€th  day  of  October,  1818. 

"  F.  HicKEY,  Captain  H.  M.  ship  Blossom. 
"J.  Keith,  o/MciV.  W.  Co." 

The  following  is  the  despatch  from  Earl  Bathurst  tb  the  partners  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  referred  to  in  tho  above  act  of  cession : — 

DowNmo-STiiitcT,  27M  January,  1818. 

"  Intelligence  having  been  received  that  the  United  States  sloop  of  war  Ontario 
has  been  sent  by  tho  American  government  to  establish  a  settlement  on  the  Colum- 
bia river,  which  was  held  by  that  state,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  last  war,  I  am  to 
acquaint  you,  that  it  is  the  prince  regent's  pleasure,  {without,  however,  admitting  the 
right  of  that  government  to  the  possession  in  yuestion)  that,  in  pursuance  of  the  first 
article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  duo  facility  should  be  given  to  the  reoccupatio*  of 
the  said  settlement  by  the  officers  of  the  United  States ;  and  I  am  to  desire  that 
you  would  contribute  as  much  as  lies  in  your  power  to  the  execution  of  his  royal 
highnesses  commands. 

•'  I  have,  &c.  &;c., 

"  Bathufst. 
"  To  the  Partners  or  Agents  of  the  North-  West  Company, 
residing  on  the  Columbia  river." 

The  above  documents  put  the  case  of  the  restoration  of  Fort  Astoria  in  too  clear 
a  light  to  require  further  observation. 

*  Those  views  were  carried  into  fffect.  The  place  was  regularly  taken  possossion  of  in 
the  king's  name  en  the  1st  December,  1813,  and  the  British  flag  was  run  up  with  all  ,the  for- 
malities of  conciucst,  in  place  of  tho  American  staudiird 


APPENDIX. 


135 


Tho  cflie,  (hen  of  drrat  Britain,  in  reipect  to  tho  country  wcit  of  the  Rucky 
Moiiiitnini,  ii  •tuirtly  thm  ; —  , 

Admitting  thnt  ihn  Unitfil  Stntai  have  acquired  nil  tho  rights  which  Spain  poa- 
iciiod,  ui)  to  tha  trnaty  of  Florida,  either  in  virtue  of  divcovery,  or,  na  ii' pretended, 
in  right  liOuiainnR,  Oreat  Uritnin  maintaina  that  the  nature  and  extent  of  thoao 
right*,  aa  well  na  ul  tlid  ri|{hta  of  Great  Britain,  are  fixed  and  defined  liy  tho  con- 
vention of  Noolka  ;  thnt  thcic  righta  are  equal  for  both  |/artina  ;  and  that,  in  aucceed- 
ing  to  tho  rights  ol  i^pnw),  undnr  that  convention,  the  (jnitod  Ntates  must  also  have 
succerdi'ii  to  the  ubii.  itions  which  it  imposed. 

Admitting,  further,  (ho  discovery  of  Mr.  Gray,  to  tho  extent  already  stated,  Great 
Britain,  taking  tho  wholo  line  of  the  coiiat  in  question,  with  its  straits,  hnrhors,  and 
bays,  haa  stronger  claims,  on  tho  ground  of  prior  diarovary,  attended  with  acta  of 
occuoancy  and  settlement,  than  the  United  Statca. 

Whether,  therefore,  tho  United  Statea  rest  their  claima  upon  the  title  of  Spain, 
or  upon  that  of  prior  discovery,  or  upon  both.  Groat  Britain  la  entitled  to  placo  her 
claim*  It  least  upon  a  parity  with  those  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  a  fact,  admitted  by  thu  United  States,  that,  with  tho  exception  of  the  Colum- 
bia river,  there  is  no  river  which  opens  far  into  the  interior,  on  the  whole  western 
coast  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

In  the  interior  of  the  territory  in  question,  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  have  had, 
for  many  years,  numerous  settlements  and  trading  posts— several  of  these  posts  on 
the  tributHry  streams  of  the  Columbia,  several  upon  the  Columbia  itself,  some  to  the 
northward,  and  othcra  to  the  southward,  of  that  river ;  and  they  navigate  the  Colum* 
bia  as  the  sole  channel  for  tho  conveyance  uf  their  produce  to  the  British  station! 
nearest  the  sea,  and  for  the  shipment  of  it  from  thence  to  Great  Britain.  It  is  also 
by  the  Columbia  and  its  tributary  streams  that  these  posts  and  settlements  receive 
their  annual  supplies  from  Great  Britain."* 

In  the  whole  of  the  territory  in  question,  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  have 
not  a  single  settlement  or  trading  post.  They  do  not  use  that  river,  either  .u:  the 
purpose  of  transmitting  or  receiving  any  produce  of  their  own,  to  or  from  other  parte 
of  the  world. 

In  this  state  of  tho  relative  rights  of  the  two  countries,  and  of  the  relative  exer- 
cise of  those  rights,  the  United  States  claim  the  exclusive  posaessioo  of  both  banko 
of  the  Columbia,  and,  consequently,  that  of  the  river  itself;  offering,  it  ia  true,  to 
concede  to  British  subjects  a  conditional  participation  in  that  navigation,  but  subjecti 
in  any  case,  to  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  and  sovereignty  of  the  United  States. 

Groat  Britain,  on  her  part,  offers  to  make  tho  river  the  boundary  ;  each  country 
retaining  the  bank  of  the  river  contiguous  to  its  own  territories,  and  the  navigation 
of  it  remaining  forever  free,  and  upon  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  to  both  nations. 

To  carry  into  effect  this  proposal,  on  our  part,  Great  Britain  would  have  to  give 
up  posts  and  settlements  south  of  the  Columbia.  On  the  part  of  the  United  States, 
there  could  be  no  reciprocal  withdrawing  from  actual  occupation,  aa  there  is  not,  and 
never  has  been,  a  single  American  citizen  settled  north  of  the  Columbia. 

The  United  States  decline  to  accede  to  this  proposal,  even  when  Great  Britain 
haa  added  to  it  the  further  offer  of  a  most  excellent  harbor,  and  an  extensive  tract  of 
country  on  tho  Straits  of  De  Fuca — a  sacrifice  tendered  in  the  spirit  of  accommoda- 
tion, and  for  tho  sake  of  a  final  adjustment  of  all  differences,  but  which,  having  been 
made  in  this  spirit,  is  not  to  be  considered  aa  in  any  degree  recognizing  a  claim  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  or  as  at  all  impairing  the  existing  right  of  Great  Bri* 
tain  over  the  post  and  territory  in  question. 

Such  being  the  result  of  thn  recent  negotiation,  it  only  remains  for  Great  Britain 
to  maintain  and  uphold  tho  qualified  rights  which  she  now  possesses  over  the  whole 
of  the  territory  in  question.  These  rights  are  recorded  and  defined  in  the  convene 
tion  of  Nootka.  They  embrace  the  right  to  navigate  the  waters  of  those  countries, 
the  right  to  settle  in  and  over  any  part  of  them,  and  the  right  freely  to  trade  with  the 
inhabitants  and  occupiers  of  the  same. 

These  rights  have  been  peaceably  exerci.^ed  ever  since  the  date  of  that  conven- 
tion ;  that  is,  for  a  period  of  near  forty  years.  Under  that  convention,  valuable 
British  interests  have  grown  up  in  those  countries.  It  is  fully  admitted  that  the 
United  States  possess  the  same  rights,  although  they  have  been  exercised  by  them 

*  Hero  ia  an  assertion  that  Great  Britain  has  been  accruing  title,  through  the  operations  of 
her  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  ever  lincc  the  treaty  of  1818.  This  gives  an  additional  8igni&< 
cance  to  her  praiit  of  the  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  of  tho  territory,  to  that  incorporation. 
It  will  be  well  for  our  renders  here  to  recollect  tho  declaration  of  our  Oovernment  made  in 
1833,  that  thenceforth  no  portion  of  the  American  Continents  were  to  be  considered  as  snbjects 
for  liluropean  Colonizatfon. 


126 


APPENDIX. 


I 

If,  I 


only  in  a  single  instance,  nnd  have  not,  since  the  year  1813,  been  exercised  at  all. 
But  beyond  these  rights  they  possess  none. 

To  the  interests  and  establishments  which  British  industry  and  enterprise  have 
created,  Great  Britain  owes  protection.  That  protection  will  be  given,  both  as  re- 
gards settlement  and  freedom  of  trade  and  navigation,  with  every  attention  not  to 
infringe  the  coordinate  rights  of  the  United  States ;  it  being  the  earnest  desire  of 
the  British  government,  so  long  as  the  joint  occupancy  continues,  to  regulate  its 
own  obligations  by  the  same  rule  which  governs  the  obligations  of  any  other  occu- 
pying party. 

Fully  sensible,  at  the  same  time,  of  the  desirableness  of  a  more  definite  settlement, 
as  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  the  British  governnient  will  be 
ready,  at  any  time,  to  terminate  the  present  state  of  joint  occupancy  by  an  agree- 
ment of  delimitation  ;  but  such  arrangement  only  can  be  admitted  as  shall  not  dero- 
gate from  the  rights  of  Great  Britain,  as  acknowledged  by  treaty,  nor  prejudice  the 
advantages  which  British  subjects,  under  the  same  sanction,  now  enjoy  in  that  part 
of  the  world. 

(No.  7.) 

Convenlion  between  the  United  States  and  Graet  Britain,  signed  at  London,  Octo- 
ber 20th,  1818. 

Article.  2 — Tt  is  agreed  that  a  line  drawn  from  the  most  north-western  point  of 
the  Lake  of  the  ^iV^oods,  along  the  49th  parallel  of  north  latitude,  or,  if  the  said  point 
shall  not  be  in  the  49lh  parallel  of  north  latitude,  then^that  a  line  drawn  from  the 
said  point  due  north  or  south,  as  the  case  may  be,  until  the  said  line  shall  intersect 
the  said  parallel  of  north  latitude,  and  from  the  point  of  such  intersection  due  west 
along  and,with  the  said  parallel,  shall  be  the  line  ofdemarkation  between  the  territories 
oi  the  United  States  and  those  of  bis  Britannic  majesty  ;  and  that  the  said  line  shall 
form  the  northern  boundary  of  the  said  territories  of  the  United  States,  and  the  south- 
ern boundary  of  the  territories  of  his  Britannic  Majesty,  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods 
to  the  Stony  Mountains. 

Art.  3. — It  is  agreed  that  any  country  that  may  be  claimed  by  either  party  on  the 
north-west  coast  of  America,  westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains,  shall,  together  with 
its  harbors,  bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  navigation  of  all  rivers  within  the  same,  be  free 
and  open  for  the  term  of  ■■  en  years  from  the  date  of  the  signature  of  the  present  con- 
vention, to  the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects,  of  the  two  powers  ;  it  being  well  un- 
derstood that  this  agreement  is  not  to  be  construed  to  the  prejudice  of  any  claim 
which  either  of  the  two  high  contracting  parties'  may  have  to  any  part  of  the  said 
country,  nor  shall  it  be  taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  any  other  power  or  state  to  any 
part  of  the  said  country  ;  the  only  object  of  the  high  contracting  parties,  in  that  re- 
spect, being  to  prevent  disputes  and  diiTerences  among  themselves. 

(No.  8.) 

The  Florida  Treaty,  signed  at  Washington,  February  ZZd,  1819. 

Article  3. — The  boundary  line  between  the  two  countries  west  of  the  Mississippi 
shall  begin  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  at  the  mouth  of  the  River  Sabine,  in  the  sea, 
continuing  north,  along  the  western  bank  of  that  river,  to  the  32d  degree  of  latitude  ; 
thence,  by  a  line  due  north,  to  the  degree  of  Utiiude  where  it  strikes  the  Kio  Roxo 
of  Natchitoches,  or  Red  River ;  then,  following  the  course  of  the  Rio  Roxo  west- 
ward, to  the  degree  of  longitude  100  west  from  London  and  23  from  Washington ; 
then  crossing  the  said  Red  River,  and  running  thence,  by  a  line  due  north,  to  the 
River  Arkansas  ;  '^ence  following  the  course  of  the  southern  bank  of  the  Arkansas, 
to  its  source  in  latitude  42  north ;  and  thence,  by  that  parallel  of  latitude,  to  the 
South  Sea;  the  whole  being  as  laid  down  in  Melish's  map  of  the  United  States, 
published  at  Philadelphia,  improved  to  the  1st  of  January,  1818.  But,  if  the  source 
of  the  Arkansas  River  shall  be  found  to  fall  north  or  south  of  latitude  42,  then  the 
Une  shall  run  from  the  said  source  due  south  or  north,  as  the  case  may  be,  till  it  meets 
the  said  parallel  of  latitude  42,  and  thence,  along  the  said  parallel,  to  the  South  Sea ; 
all  the  inlands  in  the  Sabine,  and  the  said  Red  and  Arkansas  Rivers,  throughout 
the  course  thus  described,  to  belong  ts  the  United  States  ;  but  the  use  of  the  wa- 
ters and  the  navigation  of  the^Sabine  to  the  sea,  and  of  the  said  Rivers  Roxo  and 
Arkansas,  throughout  the  axtent  of  the  said  boundary,  on  their  respective  banks, 
shall  be  common  to  the  respective  inhabitants  of  both  nations. 


APPENDIX. 


127 


The  two  high  contracting  parties  agree  to  cede  and  renounce  all  their  rights, 
claims,  and  pretensions,  to  the  territories  described  by  the  said, line  ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  United  States  hereby  rede  to  his  Catholic  Majesty,  and  renounce  forever,  all 
their  rights,  claims,  and  pretensions,  to  the  territories  lying  west  and  south  of  the 
above-described  line  ;  and,  in  like  manner,  his  Catholic  Majesty  ceeds  to  the  said 
United  States  all  his  rights,  claims,  and  pretensions,  to  any  territories  east  and  north 
of  the  said  line ;  and  for  himself,  his  heirs,  and  successors,  renounces  all  claim  to 
the  said  territories  forever. 

(No.  9.) 

Convention  hcttceen  the  United   States  and   Great  Britain,  signed  at  London, 

August  6th,  1827. 

Article  1.  All  the  provisions  of  the  third  article  of  the  convention  concluded 
between  the  United  States  of  America  and  his  majesty  the  king  of  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  on  the  20th  of  October,  1818,  shall  be,  and 
they  are  hereby,  further  indefinitely  extended  and  continued  in  force,  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  all  the  provisions  of  the  said  article  were  herein  specifically  recited. 

Art.  2.  It  shall  be  competent,  however,  to  either  of  the  contracting  parties,  in 
case  either  should  think  fit,  at  any  time  after  the  20th  of  October,  1828,  on  giving 
due  notice  of  twelve  months  to  the  other  contracting  party,  to  annul  and  abrogate 
this  convention ;  and  it  shall,  in  such  case,  be  accordingly  entirely  annulled  and 
abrogated,  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  term  of  notice. 

Art.  3.  Nothing  contained  in  this  convention,  or  in  the  third  article  of  the 
convention  of  the  20th  October,  1818,  hereby  continued  in  force,  shall  be  construed 
to  impair,  or  in  any  manner  afTect,  the  claims  which  either  of  the  contracting  parties 
may  have  to  any  part  of  the  country  westward  of  the  Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains. 

(No.  10.) 

The  Instructions  of  the  Merchant  Proprietors,  to  John  Meares  : 


««»♦*♦ 


Should  you,  in  the  course  of  your  voyage,  meet  with  any  Russian, 
English,  or  Spanish  vessels,  you  will  treat  them  with  civility  and  friendship,  and 
allow  them,  if  authorized,  to  examine  your  papers,  which  will  show  the  object  of 
your  voyage.  But  you  must,  at  the  same  time,  guard  against  surprise.  Should 
(h^y  attempt  to  seize  you,  or  even  carry  you  out  of  your  way,  you  will  prevent  it  by 
every  means  in  your  power,  and  repel  force  by  force.  You  will  on  your  arrival  in 
the  first  port,  protest  before  a  proper  ofBcer  against  such  illegal  procedure ;  and 
ascertain  as  nearly  as  you  can  the  value  of  your  vessel  and  cargo,  sending  such 
protest,  with  a  full  account  of  the  transaction  to  us  at  China.  Should  you  in  such 
conflict  have  the  superiority,  you  will  then  take  possession  of  the  vessel  that  attacked 
you,  as  also  her  cargo,  and  bring  both,  with  the  officers  and  crew  to  China,  that  they 
may  be  condemned  as  legal  prizes  and  their  crews  punished  as  pirates.  Wishing 
you  a  prosperous  voyage,  etc. 

(Signed)  "  "The  Merchant  Proprietors." 


ERRATA. 

From  the  haste  with  which  the  foregoing  work  has  been  hurried  through  the  press 
to  meet  the  demand  of  the  pubhc,  a  number  of  errors  have  been  overlooked,  which, 
in  the  present  edition  can  be  corrected  in  no  other  way  than  by  this  final  notice. 
The  erroneous  dates  resulted  chiefly  from  want  of  sufficient  time  to  refer  to  the 
MSS.,  in  reading  the  proof-sheets,  and  the  occasional  mistakes  of  expression  are 
chargeable  entirely  to  the  haste  of  composition. 

For  the  words,  "  while  she  dared  not  openly  deny  to  Spain  the  rights  of  her  Pacific 
discoveries,"  commencing  on  the  12th  line  of  the  8th  page,  read — in  flagrant  viola' 
lion  of  the  laws  of  humanity  ami  of  the  rights  of  Spain  to  her  Pacific  discoveries. 

For  the  date  "  1587,"  occurring  twice  on  the  20th  line  of  the  10th  page,  read — 1592. 

For  the  words,  "  returned  to  Mexico,"  on  the  27th  line  of  the  10th  page,  read — 
sailed  again  into  the  Pacific  at  its  northern  outlet  iri  51",  and  then  returned  to  Mexico. 

For  "  1780,"  on  the  7th  lino  of  the  13th  page,  read— 1789. 

For  "  1775,"  occurring  twice  on  line  24th  of  page  17,  read — 1795. 

For  "  61°"  on  the  14th  line  of  page  18,  read— 51°. 

For  the  word  "  Canada,"  on  the  28th  line  of  the  22d  page,  read — British  America. 

For  "the  whole  territory,"  on  the  7th  line  of  page  23,  read — the  greater  portion  of 
the  territory. 

For  the  word  "  all,"  on  the  5th  line  of  the  34th  page,  read — most  of  them. 


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[Unmutilated  and  Oaly  Genuine  Edition.] 

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W.  H.  COLYER  hftiyjig  been  at  graat  expense  to  procure  a  copy  of  this  unri- 
valled woriE,  now  publishes 

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FRANCE  UNDER  «]K»OLEON, 

By  M.  a.   THIERS, 

LATE  PRIME  MINISTSR  OF  FRAlipE. 

Wii.  H.  CoLYBR*s  edition  of  this  splendid  work»  The  Life  of  Napoleon,  is  deci> 
dedly  the  best  in  this  country.  Ills  parinted  on  fine  paper  sdod  new  type*  according 
to  thed•s^[(n  of  the -author,  M.  A.  Tnien^  and  oft  coimpansoii  with  ol^er  editions 
will  be  found  fi^  superior.    * 


TliEIS'  IB 


In   Pr  e»s. 


TO  BE  COMPLETED  IN  SIX  PARTS,  AT  12  1-2  CENTS  EACH. 


TO  BE  COMPLETED  IN  TEN  NUMBERS. 

THE  MYSTERIES  OF  BERLIN, 

FROM 

THE  PAPERS  OF  A  BERLIN  CAIMINAL  OFFICER, 

I         TRANSLATED  FROM  Tfi  GERMAI4 

By   C,  B.   BURfjIARDT. 

With  lUustratiom  on  Steely  hy  P.  Habehnann. 

This  work  in  Euiope  has  been  universally  pronounced  far  superior  to  M.  Sue's 
celebrated  "Mysteries  of  Paris,"  and  we  confiaanlly  predict,  that  the  popularity  of 
this  translation  will  be  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  light  reading. 


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